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Media
for remembering: Souvenirs, postcards, photos
Since the beginning of tourism,
travellers brought back things from abroad.
One reason is the possibility
to TRADE these items, either in
- real terms
of selling the actual things or in
- symbolic
terms of Bourdieu's cultural capital,
by giving them away.
Another reason is to use these
things to help them remembering their visits and
their experiences abroad by keeping them.
Souvenirs:
Souvenirs help to prove your visit
to a certain place and your thoughfullness about
other people during your visit. They are part of
the reassurance of social relations.
In different societies this is organized
on different levels of formalization, f.i. in Japan
a clear relations exists between senbetsu
(the parting gift in kind or symbol) and omiyage
(souvenir brought back to senbetsu giver).
In western society this is less
clear:
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The T-shirt of Turin
My parents went to Turin and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. After
Hans Memling's St. Veronica. |
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What constitutes a souvenir also
differs in different societies:
- a "typical" item, famous
for this destination or
- a "special" item, with
relation to the person it is given to.
What will souvenirs from
virtual travel look like: Bookmarks?
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Please
name one souvenir you brought back from
your last trip.
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Contact: wolfgang.arlt@fh-stralsund.de
Office: 1/132, Tel. (03831) 45 6961
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