Tuomas Hovi
Finding Heritage Through Fiction in Dracula Tourism
Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia
Folklore Fellows’ Communications 311
Saarijärvi 2016, 253 p.
Available at Bookstore Tiedekirja, 35 €
Heritage and tourism have become inextricably linked. Depending on the view point, the effect of this link can be seen either negative or positive. Does tourism produce in authentic and falsified tradition, threatening cultural heritage? Or does it, in fact, help to preserve heritage, culture and folklore in a changing and globalizing world? In this book, Finding Heritage Through Fiction in Dracula Tourism, Tuomas Hovi investigates heritage in the context of Dracula tourism in Romania: tourists visiting places connected with either the fictional vampire Dracula or the historical Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century Romanian ruler. How is Romanian heritage and culture presented and promoted through a seemingly superficial Dracula tourism based on Western popular fiction in Dracula tourism? Finding Heritage Through Fiction in Dracula Tourism offers new perspectives on the research literate concerning tourism and heritage, and a folkloristic view of tourism research.
PhD Tuomas Hovi is a folklorist from the University of Turku. His areas of expertise include tourism, heritage, authenticity, cultural identity, and popular culture.
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