Tourists at the Taj
Subtitle: performance and meaning at a symbolic site
By: Tim Edensor.
Series: International library of sociology
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1998
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
Subjects: Taj Mahal (Agra, India); Tourism -- India.; Popular culture -- India.; Architecture and state -- India.; Symbolism in architecture -- India.; Public opinion -- Great Britain.; Great Britain -- Colonies.; India -- Civilization -- British influences.; India -- Politics and government -- 1765-1947.; India -- Public opinion.
Description: The Taj Mahal has long been a subject for photography and poetry, but this book presents the first sociological analysis of the Taj as a cultural phenomenon. Tim Edensor examines the conflicting narratives which surround the site: postcolonial views of the monument as a symbol of love, of India and of splendid exuberance; and those which challenge this ethnocentricity, for whom the Taj is the symbolic center of Islamic power or a site of Moghul appropriation. He discusses many of the tourist practices around the Taj and considers the notion of tourism in a wider context. Clearly written and fascinatingly illustrated, this book describes tourism as "performance" and the tourist site as a "stage" on which tourists are directed and rehearsed, improvising cultural conventions in the complex production of leisure space.--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-214) and indexes.