Untitled

Fourth is the critical approach. Supporters of this
approach critically examine the representation of
the `Other' in tourism marketing �for example,
tourism brochures) and reveal a neo-colonialist
ideology that is hidden in the Western discourse,
or image, of authenticity �see neo-colonialism).
The touristic quest for the authenticity of the Other
is seen as no more than a projection of Western
stereotyped, biased and neo-colonialist imagery of
the noble savage, which has nothing to do with any
real assessment of the natives in the Third
World. Fifth is the postmodernist approach. This
approach is characterised by abolishing the distinction
between copies and originals, or between
signs and reality. The modern world is seen as a
hyperreality, neither real nor false. The modern
world is also explained as a simulation which
admits no originals, no origins, and no real
referents but only endless simulation. Accordingly,
postmodernists declare an end of authenticity and
justify inauthenticity in tourism.
It is argued that the quest for authenticity may
bring about certain social and cultural consequences.
This is often called the `dilemma of
authenticity'. For some, this dilemma means that,
to be experienced as authentic, a sight must be
marked as one; however, what is being marked as
authentic is simultaneously inauthentic because it is
mediated. For others, the dilemma of authenticity
is rather that the very act of quest for authenticity
may destroy authenticity itself, since the only full
condition of authenticity is isolation. Tourism, as
an agent of cultural commoditisation, may thus
destroy the meaning of traditional culture.
However, this thesis was criticised as an overgeneralisation,
for commoditisation is not necessarily
destructive to the meaning of cultural products
�Cohen 1988). As a postmodern response to the
dilemma of authenticity, Cohen �1995) suggests a
`sustainable authenticity' by justifying the contrived
or copied authenticity in order to use it to prevent
authentic cultures from being tourismified and
hence destroyed.
As such, tourism in search of authenticity is one
of the modern indicators or indexes of the
ambivalence of modernity. People are tourists away
from home because they `hate' something relating
to modernity such as the lack of authenticity and
the loss of real self. Simultaneously, however,
tourists are able to get away just because of certain
enabling conditions of modernity which they `love',
such as higher living standards and so on. One
cannot ultimately solve the contradiction of
modernity and overcome the ambivalence of
modernity. Thus, to be `away and at home' may
be a persisting dialectic of the contemporary
lifestyles, and a touristic search for authenticity
may be a sociocultural responsive action with
respect to the existential condition of modernity.
References
automatic interaction detection 45
Bruner, E.M. �1994) Àbraham Lincoln as authentic
reproduction: a critique of postmodernism',
American Anthropologist 96�2): 397±415.
Cohen, E. �1988) Àuthenticity and commoditization
in tourism', Annals of Tourism Research 15 �3):
371±86.
ÐÐ �1995) `Contemporary tourism ± trends and
challenges: sustainable authenticity or contrived
post-modernity?', in R. Butler and D. Pearce
�eds), Change in Tourism:People, Places, Processes,
London: Routledge, 12±29.
Culler, J. �1981) `Semiotics of tourism', American
Journal of Semiotics 1�1±2): 127±40.
MacCannell, D. �1973) `Staged authenticity: arrangements
of social space in tourist settings',
American Journal of Sociology 79�3): 589±603.
Selwyn, T. �1996) `Introduction', in T. Selwyn �ed.),
The Tourist Image:Myths and Myth Making in
Tourism, Chichester: Wiley, 1±32.
Wang, N. �1999) `Rethinking authenticity in
tourism experiences', Annals of Tourism Research
26 �2): 349±70.
NING WANG, CHINA
automatic interaction detection
Automatic interaction detection �AID) is a multivariate
data analysis technique designed to segment
markets and define or optimise customeroriented
management strategies. AID was introduced
into social research in the late 1960s as an a
priori or criterion segmentation technique. It is
considered to be an explanatory method to support
consumer or product-related decision making.