Shifting values of ‘primitiveness’ among the Zafimaniry of Madagascar: an anthropological approach to tourist mediators' discourses

Abstract

This article studies the origins, the production and the ambivalent uses of a ‘primitive narrative' about the Zafimaniry of Madagascar. The analysis focuses on tourism mediators’ discourses and how they are challenged by the actual tourists' experiences; it is based on participant observation, interviews and web analysis. From national tour operators to local tour guides, the mediators' communicative staging of the Zafimaniry recalls and broadens the notion of ‘primitiveness’, using it as an element of fascination and nostalgia. However, the actual tourists' experience questions this perspective, responding with a ‘philanthropic’ narrative, a desire to engage in action and relieve from poverty. Both discourses reveal however of a comparative nature and stem from the same logic: a way of ‘meeting the Other’ from a Western perspective.

Keywords:

• Madagascar
• primitive
• tourism mediators
• fascination
• nostalgia
• philantropic
• narrative

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the editors and the reviewers for their helpful suggestions and comments.

Funding

The research for this article was partially financed by a FI grant for the training of Research Personnel issued by the Government of Catalonia [grant number FI-DGR 2008–2010].

Notes

1. According to the global ranking of tourism-generating regions, Europe is currently the top source market for tourists, generating 55% of all international tourists, followed by Asia and the Pacific (20%) and the Americas (16%). The explosive growth of the Chinese travel industry has pushed it into the top five even though its population has only just begun to travel. The ranking is expressed in terms of international tourism expenditures. Source: www.wto.com.

2. There is currently an important ecotourism development plan interesting the Zafimaniry region, financed by the European agency A.C.O.R.D.S. [http://www.tourisme.gov.mg/?p=1276. Consulted on 18/05/2013].

3. According to the information provided by the local town hall, the villages receive about 2500 visits per year (2008). Numbers have doubled from 2000 to 2008.

4. All names provided in the articles have been changed.

5. The increasing popularity of cereals such as the buckwheat, grown by Ancient Romans, or the amaranth of the Incas or the quinoa, cultivated by native of Andean Highlands can be good examples of this tendency.

6. The small NGO Babakoto, run by a French couple and active for over 10 years in the region, started from a tourist encounter.