Authenticity as a Tale

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Authenticity as a Tale: Tourism in Architectural Reserves

Assist. Prof. Ilinka Terziyska

SWU Neofit Rislki

e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract:

One of the first to emphasize the key role of authenticity in tourism was MacCannell in 19761.

Ever since, the issue of authenticity has been an important topic in tourism studies, resulting

in various theories attempting to explain the term in the context of the tourism science.

Although tourist travel in general is seen as a quest for authenticity, there is no type of

tourism where this is more topical than in heritage tourism. The objective of this paper is to

explore tourist perceptions of authenticity and analyze them in the light of the most prominent

theories. To this end, the results from a qualitative study carried out among students are

presented and discussed. The focus is on architectural reserves.

Key words: authenticity, architectural reserves, heritage tourism.

Introduction

According to the Bulgarian Law for Cultural Monuments and Museums, Settlements,

complexes of cultural monuments and historic sites that have particular historical,

archaeological, ethnographic, architectural and museum significance are declared reserves by

the Council of Ministers upon proposal of the Minister of Culture and the Minister of

Territorial Development and Construction. (Chapter two, art. 4) 2. Bulgaria abounds with

such monuments and most of them have become attractive tourist destinations. Architecturalreserves, which are the subject of this study, usually represent examples of vernacular

architecture from the period of the Bulgarian revival in some cases a whole town or village

is declared a reserve, in other cases only a part of it (Old Plovdiv, the Varosha quarter in

Lovech etc.)

In view of their special character, authenticity is a central issue in this type of tourist

destinations. Because they are part of the countrys cultural heritage and at the same time are

exploited for tourism, there are at least two perspectives from which architectural reserves can

be examined. Taken as a cultural monument, they are an asset that should be preserved as

much as possible in its original form, i.e. special care of their authenticity should be taken. In

this case authentic can be perceived in its most common meaning as made or done in thetraditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original 3.

If architectural reserves are looked at as tourist destinations, authenticity seems to be a

major point of interest too. In a previous study4 aimed at identifying the relative importance of

determinants of destination attractiveness, the respondents gave authentic atmosphere the

highest rate. Then, quite naturally the following questions arose: What creates this authentic

atmosphere? This is the main question that the present paper will attempt to answer.

1 MacCannell, D. (1976) The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, Schocken Books Inc., New York.

2 3http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=uk, retrieved on 30.05.20114 Terziyska, Il. (2010)
mailto:[email protected]://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=ukhttp://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=ukmailto:[email protected]://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=uk


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Hence, the subject of the study is authenticity and the object architectural reserves

in Bulgaria.

The objective of the paper is to set the basis of a theoretical model of authenticity in

heritage tourism.

To achieve this objective, the following goals were set:

Analysis of the concept of authenticity as defined by social studies in tourism;

Identification of the nature and content of authenticity in architectural reserves as

perceived by tourists;

Classification of the elements that constitute authentic atmosphere, as reported by

potential visitors to architectural reserves.

Insight into the motivation of tourists in architectural reserves.

The method employed is a qualitative study of tourists perceptions.

Literature review

Authenticity in tourism has long been a topic of interest, and one the most

controversial ones indeed. It all started with the Boorstin MacCanell debate in the 1970s,

regarding tourist motivation or what the tourist really seeks the inauthentic (Boorstin 1) or

authenticity (MacCanell)2. They were both followers of the objectivist theory, which states

that reality is mind-independent; hence authenticity is inherent to the toured object and is not

linked with the perceptions of the tourist. Thus, the object and the tourist are detached and

authenticity is seen as an absolute objective quality.

The other main issue under discussion was authenticity as a motivator for tourist

travel. In Boorstins view the modern tourist does not seek authenticity. On the contrary, they

are absolutely aware that they are presented with a pseudo-event, deliberately created for

them and inauthentic, so what the modern tourist actually seeks is inauthenticity. In his book,

the modern tourist is contrasted to the traveler of the past, the latter seeking and achieving

authentic experience, while the former expects and engages in an experience that is no

different from the superficiality and inauthenticity of everyday life. MacCannell opposed this

statement, arguing that the main tourist motivator is the quest for authenticity. He declared the

quest for authenticity the central driving force for tourist travel: The alienated modern tourist

in quest of authenticity hence looks for the pristine, the primitive, the natural, that which is as

yet untouched by modernity3

. He also states that All tourists desire this deeper involvementwith society and culture to some degree; it is a basic component of their motivation to

travel4. Tourism is not seen as another instance of the inauthentic modern life, it is perceived

as an opportunity to experience the real. Just like Boorstin, MacCannell claims that what

tourists actually receive is staged authenticity5 space developed especially for tourists and

therefore false, inauthentic.

1 Boorstin, D.J. (1964) The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in American Society, New York: Harper & Row.2 MacCannell, D. (1976) The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, Schocken Books Inc., New York.3 Ibid., p. 384

4 Ibid., p.105 MacCannell, D. (1973) 'Staged authenticity: arrangements of social space in tourist settings', American Journal

of Sociology 79(3): 589-603.


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Another approach to authenticity in tourism is the constructivist one, whose main

representative is Erik Cohen1. Although it is still object-focused, the relation tourist-object is

reconsidered. It is founded on the idea that there is no absolute, objective truth; similarly,

authenticity is a socially constructed, negotiated concept and is not a permanent property of

the toured object. Thus, the same object could have different authenticity, depending on the

person and his or her beliefs, knowledge etc. Based on this theory he introduced the term ofemergent authenticity2, explaining how through the process of cultural change, a contrived

event, a fakery is gradually accepted as authentic.

The third basic approach is the one defined by Wang as existential authenticity 3. He

also calls it activity-based authenticity, in contrast with the object-based approach of

MacCannel and Cohen, for example, as it refers only to the tourist experience and not to the

toured object:

Existential authenticity refers to a potential existential state of Beingthat is to be activated by tourist activities. Correspondingly, authentic

experiences in tourism are to achieve this activated existential state ofBeing within the liminal process of tourism. Existential authenticity

can have nothing to do with the authenticity of toured objects.4

This approach is based on the postmodern movement in anthropology and sociology.

Postmodernists claim that authenticity can be totally detached from any existing object,

bearing the qualities of the real, original or true. As Baudrillard (cited in Bruner) explains it:

In the Renaissance we had originals and counterfeits; in theindustrial period we had serial reproduction of the same object; but in

postmodern phase we have simulation, without origins, referentialvalues, or beginnings, where the simulacrum becomes the true.5

While the role of authenticity in postmodern view of tourism is generally denied, there

are still some cases where it holds great importance for example in cultural, heritage or

ethnic tourism.

Revising the theories of some of the most prominent postmodernists, Bruner defines 4

types of authenticity, based on a case study of New Salem an authentic reproduction of

the 1930s historic town.6 The first one refers to authenticity of verisimilitude the object

resembles the original to an extent that will make the nowadays visitor think it looks like the

original. The second type is based on genuineness the village would appear true in

substance, real7. In the third sense (the strictest one), authenticity meansbeing original

,

which excludes reproduction. In historic towns this is manifested by individual original

objects. The last sense is related to authority. The site is authentic, because an authority has

declared it authentic.

1Cohen, E. (1988) Authenticity and Commoditization in Tourism.Annals of Tourism Research 15:371-86.

2 Ibid.3 Wang, N. (1999) Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience,Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 26, No. 2,

pp. 349-3704 Ibid., p.3525 Bruner, E. M. (1994) Abraham Lincoln as authentic reproduction: A critique of postmodernism.American

Anthropologist96(2):397. http://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdf,

accessed on 05.06.20116 Ibid.7 Ibid., p. 401
http://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdfhttp://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdfhttp://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdf


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The implications of this study are especially applicable to architectural reserves, as the

two types of destinations share a lot of common features in both cases, the focus is on

conservation activities and (authentic?) reproduction of the past.

Dimensions of authenticity in architectural reserves empirical results and analysis

The idea of the present study evolved as a result of a previous research on

determinants of cultural destination attractiveness1 . According to the results of the

questionnaire which was carried out among visitors in an architectural reserve, authentic

atmosphere is the most important element of the destinations attractiveness. Then, quite

naturally, the question What constitutes this authentic atmosphere arose. To answer this

question, a qualitative survey among students of tourism at the South-West University in

Blagoevgrad was carried out. It was a self administrated questionnaire, consisting of three

questions:

1) Would you visit an architectural reserve?2) Is authentic atmosphere important for you during your visit?

3) What would create the feeling of authentic atmosphere in such a place?

A total of 30 questionnaires were distributed among students, 21 of them were

completed and returned. Since the survey was qualitative, no representative sample was

sought. The results refer to the attitudes of Bulgarians in the 20-25 age bracket, potential

visitors of architectural reserves in Bulgaria.

Looking at the elicited answers, the first and most obvious conclusion that can be

drawn up is that object-related authenticity is still relevant for this type of tourist destination.

It is expressed by the requirements and expectations of respondents for certain markers thatextend to almost every area of their stay at the destination authentic motives in the hotel,

authentic entertainment establishments, Bulgarian folk music, traditional costumes of staff,

architecture from the Revival period, narrow cobblestone streets. Quite interestingly,

authentic atmosphere is defined by using the adjective authentic to describe its elements.

This might seem a tautology, but it could also be interpreted in the following way to feel or

experience the authenticity of the place, you need authentic, i.e. true, original objects that

create it.

Considering Bruners typology of authenticity, we can find at least two of the types he

describes. First of all this is the authenticity of verisimilitude. Phrases that suggest this

are: hotels with authentic motives in their furnishing, restaurant staff in traditional

costumes, re-enactment of customs and holidays. All these designate expectations of

staged authenticity the hotel need not be authentic but it should only contain someauthentic elements, the restaurant staff should be dressed in traditional style which is notthe

normaldress of nowadays local people, the customs and holidays should be re-enacted they

are not commonly practiced any more. What the tourist, the beholder is seeking is likeliness

certain features that would make the place resemble the one that existed years ago. The

second type of authenticity which surfaced is the one of being true. What leads to this

assertion? Historic sites, Revival architecture, fortresses these are all genuine artifacts

of the past, not reproduced ones. The question whether revival architecture denotes houses

1 Terziyska, Il. (2010) Determinants of cultural destination attractiveness, paper presented at the First

International Conference for PhD Candidates Economics, Management and Tourism, Sozopol, 19-21 June


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originally built in the Revival period or a verisimilar reproduction might be a bit controversial

what makes think the former holds truth is the fact that most of the houses were built in the

respective period, they are monuments of culture, protected by the law and this is a widely

known fact so presumably by Revival architecture respondents mean the genuine houses

from this period.

There are no signs of respondents expecting the genuine type of authenticity. The

authority type might be relevant, because of the fact that these destinations are officially

declared to present the architecture of the Bulgarian national Revival the present survey,

however, was not designed in a way that would verify this assumption.

As regards the constituents of authenticity in architectural reserves, those can be

clearly divided into two main categories tangible and intangible (Table 1).

Table 1. Features of authenticity in architectural reserves

Tangible features Intangible featuresHistoric sites

Authentic architecture from the Revival

period

Hotels in authentic style

Taverns in authentic style

Local food

Traditional costumes

Preserved nature

Customs

Traditions

Holidays

Folk music

Crafts

Quite interestingly, nature is a part of the tangible elements that determine authentic

atmosphere. On the one hand this could be explained by the fact that the destination cannot be

taken separately from its surroundings and the search for intactness extends to nature too.

On the other travel to architectural reserves often combines cultural and eco or nature

tourism, as they (the destinations) are often located in the mountains, near natural parks or

reserves. Another possible explanation will be provided further on in the text, when tourist

motivation will be discussed.

A closer examination of respondents answers could also give some insight about their

motivation for visiting architectural reserves. First of all, the past, bygone epochs and customs

are indicated as a prerequisite of authentic atmosphere. This is quite in line with the modernist

interpretation of MacCannell, who explains the quest for authenticity with the desire andexpectation of the tourist to escape the fake and superficial modern life and find meaning and

truthfulness in the past. This is further confirmed by words such as calmness, quaint,

ancient, and houses built with natural materials (stone, wood)1. This nostalgia can be

witnessed in some of the answers that would at first seem rather strange: for example

verandas and drinking fountains. If you do not consider the specific context of Bulgarian

language and culture, it would be unexplainable how and why verandas and drinking

fountains construct authenticity. However, the counterparts of these words in Bulgarian

(which were used by respondents) are /chardaks and . In order to explain

what stands behind these words, not only the denotative, but also the connotative meaning

should be discussed. The first one is an obsolete word, a word of the past and can be

frequently heard in folk songs and tales. In the past, having this specific kind of veranda

1


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meant you were an influential and wealthy person: The two-floor house with a chardak,

affordable only for the local Ottoman and Christian elite becomes a kind of a social bar for the

Bulgarian of the Revival period1. The second one drinking fountain or in this

context refers not to any drinking fountain, but to a place of strong symbolic meaning. It was

where a lassie and a lad in love met. Moreover, drinking fountains were built as a donation to

the villagers and to strangers, and brought much respect to the builder, meaning that he was aprosperous and generous person.

The above analysis of the words and phrases used by respondents to describe the

atmosphere of authenticity they look after allows distinguishing between the two types of

motivation factors defined by Dann2 push and pull factors. On the one hand, weve got some

explicit pull factors (destination features), such as historic sites, Revival architecture, crafts

and customs, local cuisine etc. On the other hand a closer examination of these explicit pull

factors can reveal some push motivation factors that stand behind them:

1) In addition to the factual relation to the past that some of the words

manifest, they are also linguistically connected to the discourse of folk talesand songs. This could imply a possible motivation to experience a fairy tale

a personal experience of a shared social reality, a realm of shared moral

values, an ideal world where the good always wins. Something invented,

yet credible, because it is based on real structures of social memory.

2) The other interpretation of the above mentioned words is related to the

association with personal high social status, respect and stability. While

historic sites evoke a feeling of national pride by manifesting nation-scale

power, such personal level objects as drinking fountains, houses and

chardaks denote the quest for personal stability and welfare. However, a

very important remark is that modern-style luxury is unacceptable. Along

with these markers of prosperity (but old-time prosperity), we may find

phrases like small tumble-down houses, narrow cobblestone streets etc.

3) There are also some explicitly indicated push motivators: knowlegde and

fusion. The first one relates to self-actualization, the second implies a

deeper experience, when you not only know the foreign culture (in this case

the culture of the past) but you become part of it, you experience it.

Conclusion and implications for further research

This study has proved that apart from being activity-related the authenticity of

architectural reserves (in tourism context) has object-related character too. To do so, theattitudes of potential tourist were analyzed and it was found out that the destination-specific

elements that compose the feeling of authenticity are of both tangible and intangible

character.

Moreover, the analysis allowed the construction of theoretical model of authenticity in

architectural reserves, which is based on the concept of the folk tale. According to that model

authenticity is an amalgam of genuine artifacts and social structures on the one hand, and the

unreal (in our case - the reproduced or the reenacted) on the other, put together to form a story

1 , . ( ) xviii-xix .

, retrieved fromhttp :// www .protobulgarians .com /Statii %20 ot %20 drugi %20 avtori /Elena%20 Ivanova %20-%20 Za %20 chardachnata %20 kaashta .htm on 07.06.20112 Dann, G. (1981) 'Tourist motivation: an appraisal', Annals of Tourism Research 8: 187-219.
http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htm


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that will bring the tourist to times long gone by. Some of the tourists would only like to listen

to the story these are the spectators; others will seek to enter the tale and become active

participants. If we adopt this model, the notion of staged authenticity (perceived as fakery)

can be reconsidered because the staging becomes part of the authenticity-building process.

Within the type of tourists that was identified in this study the tale-seekers, twosubgroups were identified. The profiles of these two different subgroups the spectatorand

theparticipantalso need to be more precisely defined.

Additional studies are needed to identify the ratio between tangible and intangible

elements, as well as between the genuine and the reproduced. Authenticity as a tale can be

seen as a phenomenon between the museum-linked authenticity and the carnivals as a

manifestation of free play with reality.

The study focused on the tourist. Yet, there is one more stakeholder in the issue of

authenticity who was not included here the local community, the main story-teller. As

Michael Hall notes, Fakery occurs when the form of a physical or social object loses itsintegration with the everyday life of the place in which it is situated.1 To fully develop the

model, the perspective of local people should also be considered and juxtaposed to that of

tourists.

References:

, . (n.d.) XVIII-XIX .

, retrieved from http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii

%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata

%20kaashta.htm on 07.06.2011

Boorstin, D.J. (1964) The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in American Society, New York:

Harper & Row

Bruner, E. M. (1994) Abraham Lincoln as authentic reproduction: A critique of

postmodernism. American Anthropologist 96(2):397.

http://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdf, accessed

on 05.06.2011

Cohen, E. (1988) Authenticity and Commoditization in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research

15:371-86.

Dann , G. (1981) 'Tourist motivation: an appraisal', Annals of Tourism Research 8: 187-219.

Hall, M. (2007)Response to Yeoman et al: The fakery of The authentic tourist, Current

Issues in Tourism, Volume 28, Issue 4, August 2007, Pages 1139-1140

MacCannell, D. (1973) 'Staged authenticity: arrangements of social space in tourist settings',

American Journal of Sociology 79(3): 589-603.

MacCannell, D. (1976) The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, Schocken Books

Inc., New York.

1Hall, M. (2007)Response to Yeoman et al: The fakery of The authentic tourist, Current Issues in Tourism,Volume 28, Issue 4, August 2007, Pages 1139-1140
http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdfhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%235905%232007%23999719995%23647700%23FLA%23&_cdi=5905&_pubType=J&view=c&_auth=y&_acct=C000072315&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7626417&md5=1dc1abe86186bf80d8b593cf9871d425http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%235905%232007%23999719995%23647700%23FLA%23&_cdi=5905&_pubType=J&view=c&_auth=y&_acct=C000072315&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7626417&md5=1dc1abe86186bf80d8b593cf9871d425http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%235905%232007%23999719995%23647700%23FLA%23&_cdi=5905&_pubType=J&view=c&_auth=y&_acct=C000072315&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7626417&md5=1dc1abe86186bf80d8b593cf9871d425http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Elena%20Ivanova%20-%20Za%20chardachnata%20kaashta.htmhttp://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth_3070_10f/docs/bruner_abraham_lincoln.pdfhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%235905%232007%23999719995%23647700%23FLA%23&_cdi=5905&_pubType=J&view=c&_auth=y&_acct=C000072315&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=7626417&md5=1dc1abe86186bf80d8b593cf9871d425


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Terziyska, Il. (2010) Determinants of cultural destination attractiveness, paper presented at

the First International Conference for PhD Candidates Economics, Management and

Tourism, Sozopol, 19-21 June

Wang, N. (1999) Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience, Annals of Tourism Research,

Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 349-370

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=uk, retrieved on 30.05.2011
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=ukhttp://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/authentic?view=uk

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Authenticity as a Tale