Tourism in oasis, Natural and cultural mirages of an encounter?

Tourism in oasis, Natural and cultural mirages of an encounter?
– Original title:
Tourisme d’oasis, les mirages naturels et culturels d’une rencontre ?

V. Battesti (2009) - Tourisme d’oasis. Les mirages naturels et culturels d’une rencontre ? in N. Chabloz & J. Raout (eds.), Cahiers d’études africaines, numéro spécial, Tourismes. La quête de soi par la pratique des autres, XLIX (1-2), 193-194, p. 551-582
Éditions de l’EHESS, Paris).
ISSN: 0008-0055
DOI: 10.4000/etudesafricaines.18826
PDF File: https://hal.science/halshs-00350921/
Online on the journal’s website: http://etudesafricaines.revues.org/18826

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Séance photo: Jeri, le gardien du temple antique d’Amon, et deux touristes japonaises, Maliqo et Saliqo. Siwa, Aghurmi, le 18 mai 2003, 19h.

From Tourism to discover the nature of North African oases to Tourism to attain now the “essential nature” of oases’ communities, this article will show that the landscape, and environmental dimensions remain a permanent feature, fueled by transnational imaginations.

– Abstract:

This paper focuses on two ethnographic oasien fieldworks: the Arabic-speaking region of the Jerid in Tunisia, and the Berber-speaking oasis of Siwa in Egypt. The tendency of contemporary tourism is clearly “culturally” oriented. Less an opposition between “cultural tourists” and “un-cultural tourists,” it is mainly a zeal among some to implement a new resource and a new register of tourism practices. Aesthetic emotions have also evolved (from picturesque to authenticity), with the demand for direct and true access to the local culture. More than taking in the panorama offered from inselbergs from Siwa or balloons in Tozeur, nothing can compare to a “real” marriage or a “real” party of drunken young workers under the palm trees. Misunderstandings and simulacra, however, also leave room for satisfaction. A “novlangue” (“newspeak”) is perhaps being invented, co-produced by tourists and the local interface, combining identity preservation (cultural diversity) and biological/environmental preservation (biodiversity).

Mirage du tourisme en oasis

Un touriste déguisé en local. À ce qu’il lui semble. © Vincent Battesti. Tozeur (Tunisie), 1995.

V. Battesti (2009) - Tourisme d’oasis. Les mirages naturels et culturels d’une rencontre?

in Nadège Chabloz & Julien Raout (dirs), Cahiers d’études africaines, numéro spécial, Tourismes. La quête de soi par la pratique des autres, XLIX (1-2), 193-194, p. 551-582