Myth, national identity, and the contemporary tourism site: the case of Amalienborg and Frederiksstaden

Abstract

The Amalienborg Palaces and surrounding district of Frederiksstaden are among the sites in Copenhagen marked as ‘must see’ by Danish tourism authorities. Yet, an analysis of its tourism-related materials (guidebooks, websites, and brochures) does not provide sufficient context to understand its national significance. A hierarchical semiotic analysis, inspired by Barthes' concept of myth, suggests that in order to understand the deeper relationships of tourism sites to national identity, we cannot examine them simply as a product of the present-day tourism industry. Rather, we must consider the ideologies and rituals that always already constitute their significance in order to assess why places become marked as tourism sites.

Keywords:

• tourism site
• myth
• ideology
• ritual
• symbolism
• Denmark

Acknowledgements

The authors also would like to thank, without implicating, Michelle Metro-Roland, Susan Spicer, Rebecca Lave, Lisa Braverman and three anonymous referees for comments on previous drafts. Thanks are also due to Pia Tripsen for her work translating documents, Nicholas Vaughn for his cartography and Ole Jørgensen of Copenhagen University for assistance in securing historic materials on the Frederiksstaden district.

Funding

This research was made possible by grants from the College of Arts and Sciences, The Center for European Studies, the H.H. Remak Professorship Fund, and the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs of Indiana University.

Notes on contributors

Daniel C. Knudsen is H.H. Remak Professor of West European Studies, a Professor in and Chair of the Department of Geography at Indiana University and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Tourism Studies. He is a cultural geographer working in the fields of tourism, landscape studies, and food studies.

Jillian M. Rickly-Boyd is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Indiana University. She is a cultural geographer working in the fields of geohumanities and mobilities. Her research interests weave together: tourism studies; environmental perceptions; identity and bio-politics; and performance theories.

Charles E. Greer is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography at Indiana University. He is a cultural geographer working in the fields of landscape studies, environmental attitudes, and regional studies.

Notes

1. An enthymeme is a syllogism with an unstated assumption. It stems from Aristotle's Rhetoric, in which he states that an enthymeme is a rhetorical syllogism aimed at persuasion, as opposed to the demonstration of a scientific syllogism. As such, an enthymeme works through the presentation of an incomplete argument, which is then completed by the audience of the argument. Braverman (2010) illustrates the enthymematic moment in tourism, and Kong and Yeoh (1997) offer an example of enthymeme through the relations of politics, ritual, and spectacle in Singapore.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This research was made possible by grants from the College of Arts and Sciences, The Center for European Studies, the H.H. Remak Professorship Fund, and the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs of Indiana University.