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Abstract
The relationship between mobility and place-making in the context of tourism based on the new mobilities paradigm has been explored. Taking road travel on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway in southwestern China as a case, auto-ethnography and mobile ethnography are employed as the primary research methods, along with in-depth interviews, observations, personal travel log writings, and second-hand data collection. The question that how the space of road becomes a meaningful place through the mobility of road travellers thus has been answered. The mobility pattern of travellers is found to be stable in the time dimension and there are periodic repetitions in the spatial dimension, making ‘place-ballet’ on the highway. Accordingly, the road changes from space of flows into a place that is richly endowed with meaning. The travellers’ imagination of the road plays an important role in their interactions with the road, helping them making the meaning of the road. Multiple mobility practices shape the traveller’s ‘sense of the road’. In particular, the road is not a homogenous space in motion, but a ‘wrinkled’ one with numerous anchoring points. These moorings such as restaurants, hostels and landmarks shape travellers’ emotional connection with the road. Proactive or forced stillness not only affect the pace of the traveller’s mobility, but also broadens their understanding of the road and road travel. Therefore, the meaning attributed to the road is constructed by the mobility and the moorings. Accordingly, a comprehensive understanding of road travel, which is a distinct form of mobility practice, is generated. Moreover, the understanding of roads as a space of flows has been deepened and the significance of travel channels within mobility studies is highlighted. Finally, roads are regarded as a meaning place, which contributes to forming a ‘mobile concept’ of the place.
摘要
本研究基于新流动性范式, 在旅游语境中探查流动性与地方的关系。以位于中国西南地区的川藏公路上的道路旅行为例, 采用自我民族志和流动民族志为研究方法, 运用深度访谈、观察、个人旅行日志撰写和二手资料收集等方法获取数据, 考察了道路空间如何借由旅行者的流动成为有意义的地方。研究表明, 旅行者的流动性在时间维度上具有稳定性, 在空间上存在周期性的反复, 形成了类似于“地方芭蕾”的时空惯例, 因此, 道路从流动的空间变成富有意义的地方。旅行者对道路的想象在建构其与道路的联系、帮助其理解道路的意义中起到了重要的作用, 丰富的流动性实践塑造了旅行者在流动中的“道路感”。特别地, 道路并非均质化的流动空间, 而是有着众多停泊点的有“褶皱的”流动空间, 旅行者在标识性和服务性道路节点中的静止塑造了其与道路的情感联系；而主动的和被动的停留, 既调节了旅行者流动的节奏, 又强化了旅行者对道路以及道路旅行的理解。因此, 道路的意义生产是旅行者的流动和静止共同作用的结果, 流动性和地方是相互依存、相互塑造的。本研究有助于深化旅游研究者对道路旅行这一特殊旅游流动实践的认知, 同时, 有助于重新认识道路空间并重新理解旅游通道在旅游流动中的重要意义, 拓展了道路研究的视野。最后, 将道路视为流动的地方, 推进对流动的地方观的理解。
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Notes on contributors
Xueji Wang
Xueji Wang obtained his doctoral degree from the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, and is now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Sun Yat-Sen University. His research interest focuses on tourism and social development, and his recent work is about tourist mobilities and road travellers in China.
Jia Xie
Jia Xie obtained her doctoral degree from the College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, and now is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Her research covers backpacker culture and tourism’s impacts on culture and society.
Jiuxia Sun
Jiuxia Sun is a Professor at the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University. She received her PhD at the Sun Yat-Sen University (2004). Her research interests relate to rural tourism, community participation, and ethnic relations. She is the Director of the Center of Tourism, Leisure, and Social Development.