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Thanatopsis and mortality mediation within “lightest” dark tourism

Thanatopsis and mortality mediation within “lightest” dark tourism This paper aims to investigate the visitor experience at a “lightest” dark tourism attraction, focusing on issues of thanatopsis and mortality mediation.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 visitors to a “Dungeon”-style attraction in the UK (a site of “lightest” dark tourism). The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis; four themes were identified.FindingsReflection on, and contemplation of, issues of life and death was a common (but not universal) component of the visitor experience. Four forms of such reflection were apparent: considering absent/present death; thanatopsis (reflection on the self’s inevitable mortality); reflecting on the nature of death and dying in the past; and enjoyment of the opportunity to engage with death without fear in the safe setting of a visitor attraction. Some visitors also reflected on issues of individual and collective morality, in both past and present.Research limitations/implications“Lightest” dark tourism is not necessarily about shallow experiences. Instead, many visitors are active agents, engaged in acts of making meaning about issues of death and life. This calls for a more sophisticated conceptualisation of such visitors.Originality/valueThe mortality mediation model is widely accepted as a way of explaining the experience of visiting places of death but has rarely been subject to empirical scrutiny. This is one of few studies to explore in detail issues of mortality mediation and thanatopsis in the context of “lightest” dark tourism. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Tourism Review Emerald Publishing

Thanatopsis and mortality mediation within “lightest” dark tourism

Light, Duncan; Ivanova, Preslava
Tourism Review , Volume 77 (2): 14 – Mar 4, 2022
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1660-5373
eISSN
1660-5373
DOI
10.1108/tr-03-2021-0106
Publisher site
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Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the visitor experience at a “lightest” dark tourism attraction, focusing on issues of thanatopsis and mortality mediation.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 visitors to a “Dungeon”-style attraction in the UK (a site of “lightest” dark tourism). The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis; four themes were identified.FindingsReflection on, and contemplation of, issues of life and death was a common (but not universal) component of the visitor experience. Four forms of such reflection were apparent: considering absent/present death; thanatopsis (reflection on the self’s inevitable mortality); reflecting on the nature of death and dying in the past; and enjoyment of the opportunity to engage with death without fear in the safe setting of a visitor attraction. Some visitors also reflected on issues of individual and collective morality, in both past and present.Research limitations/implications“Lightest” dark tourism is not necessarily about shallow experiences. Instead, many visitors are active agents, engaged in acts of making meaning about issues of death and life. This calls for a more sophisticated conceptualisation of such visitors.Originality/valueThe mortality mediation model is widely accepted as a way of explaining the experience of visiting places of death but has rarely been subject to empirical scrutiny. This is one of few studies to explore in detail issues of mortality mediation and thanatopsis in the context of “lightest” dark tourism.

Journal

Tourism Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 4, 2022

Keywords: Visitor experience; Lightest dark tourism; Mortality mediation; Thanatopsis; 最轻微的黑暗旅游; 游客体验; 死亡冥想; 死亡临界; turismo oscuro más ligero; experiencia del visitante; Thanatopsis; mediación de mortalidad

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