Unearthing the paradoxes and oxymora of tourism

ABSTRACT

This theoretical study seeks to unearth the many choices found in tourism from a perspective that views tourism as language with a concentration on paradox and oxymoron. After initially tracing the Greek etymology of these two terms, the focus is on paradoxical propositions that, although self-contradictory, may contain a possible truth or belief that needs to be carefully revealed, as in the case of (religious) myth for instance. The exploding of such myth is often evident in expressions that carry an appended out-of-place question mark, for example, Tourism: Passport to development? Oxymora, by nuanced contrast, comprise two elements that deliberately contradict one another in order to lead to a new meaning or concept that stems from their contiguous placement. Such a challenging figure of speech is frequently signalled by the addition of an extra-contextual exclamation mark. It is the binary structure of both paradox and oxymoron that lies beneath the various continuum models that continue to be successfully employed both theoretically and methodologically in tourism research. This conceptual analysis also examines examples of paradox and oxymora in various dilemmas of tourism. The conclusion is that paradoxes and oxymora lie at the very heart of tourist motivation and experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Paradox
• oxymoron
• language of tourism
• myth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Graham Dann, Ph.D., D.Litt., has been researching tourism, and more specifically tourist motivation and the sociolinguistics of tourism promotion, for the past 38 years. He is a founder member of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and of the research committee of international tourism of the International Sociological Association.