R. Raus, G. Cappelli, C. Flinz (édité par), Le guide touristique: lieu de rencontre entre lexique et
images du patrimoine culturel. Vol. II
ISBN (online) 978-88-6453-514-2, CC BY 4.0, 2017 Firenze University Press
Languageandimagesareinextricablytiedintourismdiscourse,both synchronicallyanddiachronically.Guidebooksofferaperfectobservation pointtoinvestigatethedynamicsofmultimodalculturalmeaningconstru-al.Thecontributionscollectedinthisvolumeadvanceourknowledgeof thewayinwhichculturalvaluesandtourismdiscoursehavebeenshaping eachother. Thepapersofferamultilingualperspectiveonthecomplexrelationship betweentheiconicapparatusandthevocabularyoftangibleandintan-gibleheritage.Theyshowthattheneedtodescribethetravelexperience boththroughlinguisticandvisualmeansisaneedofallhumanbeings, independentlyoftheirculturalbackground.Atthesametime,thecultur-allypredicatedneedsofeachtravellershapetheimageofdestinationsand changeitovertime. Imageshavealwayscontributedtobothrealisticandstereotypedrep-resentationsofdistantrealitiesandculturalpractices.Overthecenturies, travelwritingandthevisualartshavegonehandinhand,contributingto thegenerichybridizationoftourismdiscourse(Francesconi2012).Thisisa constantlygrowingtrend,tothepointthat“humanexperienceisnowmore visualandvisualizedthaneverbefore”(Mirzoeff1999:1)andthetour-istgazeisincreasinglyguidedthroughvisualresources(UrryandLarsen 2011).Similarly,thesacralisationofsightsanddestinations(MacCannell 1989)tendstorelyonthesharingoficonicrepresentationsofpopularsites throughbothspecializedpublicationsanduser-generatedcontentplat-forms.Guidebooksarebecomingsophisticatedmultimodalartefactsand theirmediatingroleas“culturebroker”(Cohen1985,Crang2004,Cappelli forthcoming)largelyreliesonthecomplementaryrelationshipbetweense-mioticcodes.
Foreword
XVIII Foreword Theuseofimagesintourismdiscourseisfarfromunexplored.However, inspiteofthefactthat“touristconsumptionisprimarilyvisual”(Jenkins 2003:309),linguistshavestartedtothoroughlyinvestigateitinitsconnec-tionswithculturalmeaningconstrualonlyrecently(Francesconi2014), thankstothedevelopmentofthefieldofmultimodaldiscourseanalysis (KressandvanLeeuwen2006).Imagescomewithanarrativestructureof theirownwhichcontributestoencodingconceptualrepresentations.The sizeofframe(e.g.close,mediumorlongshot),theperspective(e.g.low anglevs.eyelevel),themodes(e.g.coloursaturation,depth,brightness, etc.),therealityprinciples(e.g.naturalisticvs.abstract)andthepolariza- tion(e.g.left-right,top-bottom,circular,etc.)areallelementsthatcancon-veymeaning. Whensuchelementscombinewithlanguageinaguidebook,there-sultispowerfulmediateddiscoursewhichshapesandfreezestheimage ofdestinationsandsightsthroughthefilterofferedbytheeyesoftheau-thor.Inthissense,wecantalkof“discoursimagé”(Raus:VII)(depicted discourse),atypeofdiscourseinwhichimagesoffernotonlyadenota-tiverepresentationofrealitybutaconnotativeandhighlysymbolicone toowhichcanalsoresultinpromotionaleffects,dependingontheauthor’s reputation(e.g.RickSteve’sguidesorPaulineFrommer’sguidesinthe Englishspeakingworld). Tourismdiscourseisnecessarily“subjective”toacertainextent,and guidebooksarenoexception.Theyplayacrucialroleinthediffusionand popularizationofculture-specificconcepts.Theintricateinterplayoflin- guisticandvisualresourcesensuresoptimalaccessibilityofspecializedin-formation,whichmightotherwisebetoocomplextoprocessforthereader. Theiconicapparatusoffersanimmediaterepresentationofmoreorless specializedvocabularyandhelpsthe“layreader”managethewealthof (possibly)newinformationnecessarytounderstandthedestinationandits culture.Inotherwords,throughthecomplementaryrelationshipbetween wordsandimages,guidebookscreateconnectionsbetweenthe“known” andthe“new”.Theyprovideinterpretivetoolsfortouristsbyhelping themintegratetheirculturally-predicatedexpectationsandneedswiththe destination’sculture.Theytakeadvantageofavailablementalrepresenta-tionstohelptouristsmakesenseofwhatisnewandunfamiliartothem andoftheimportanceoftheitemsselectedasculturallyrelevant(Cappelli forthcoming).Thechoiceofwordsandimages,though,areultimatelyan author’s(culturally-predicated)subjectivechoice. Thearticlesincludedinthisvolumefocusonthreemainmacro-top-ics:therepresentationofjourneysanddestinations,artinguidebooksand imaginaryandpropagandainguidebooks.ThearticlesbyPaolaNovara, MonicaMaffioli,Marie-FranceMergerandLorenzoDevillaexplorethe complexrelationshipofvisualandlinguisticresourcesinguidebooksand
theirroleincreatingboththeimageofthedestinationandtourists’ex-Foreword XIX pectations.ThestudiesbyPhilippMeuser,UlrikeMüller,HannahWirta KinneyandDoritKlugefocusontherelationshipbetweenguidebooksand artandonthewayinwhichtourismdiscoursecancontributetothechang-ingfortunesofspecificmonumentsorformsofartandviceversa.Adolfo MignemiandGaliaYanoshevskyofferaninterestingtakeonguidebooks andfocusonthewaysinwhichtheycancontributetothefabricationof collectiveimaginaryandevenmilitarypropaganda. Thevarietyoftopics,perspectivesandlanguagesrepresentedinthis volumeisproofthat,inspiteofbeingoneofthemostinvestigatedgenresin tourismdiscourse,guidebooksstillhavemuchtooffertointerdisciplinary andcross-linguisticresearch.Theirinterestliesnotonlyinthesemioticre-sourcesusedtodescribedestinationsandsights,butintheirvalueasa hybridculturalartifactwhosecomplexroleisthatofmediatingandlead- ingatthesametime.Thiscannotbutresultinaninterestingmixofsubjec-tivecommunicativechoiceswhichareculturallyandtemporallybound. Forthisreason,thelanguageofguidebooksoffersanidealvantagepoint toobservetheeverchanging“gaze”thatpeoplecastonotherpeopleand theirterritoriesandcultures. GloriaCappelli UniversityofPisa
