"Mobile cultures" as leisure pursuits and tourist attractions: Gauchos, cowboys, and Indians

Erik Cohen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

This comparative study combines conceptual approaches of the mobilities paradigm and postcolonial theory, with the notion of identity politics, in the analysis of two "mobile cultures": the gauchos of the South American pampas and the cowboys and Indians of the American West. It examines the permutations that the representations of these myths underwent, as they "traveled" from their remote origins to national centers, and to ever further destinations abroad, in case studies of their dissemination in Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and Thailand. The article discusses specifically the routes and symbolic means of travel of the myths, the subcultures they engendered, the manner in which the representations of the iconic mythical figures were deployed to serve the identity politics at the destinations, and the leisure pursuits and commercialized tourist establishments, such as festivals, theme parks, and cowboy towns based on these myths.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-20
Number of pages20
JournalTourism, Culture and Communication
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Cognizant, LLC.

Keywords

  • Cowboys
  • Gauchos
  • Identity politics
  • Indians
  • Leisure pursuits
  • Mobile cultures
  • Representations
  • Tourist establishments

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