Abstract
Previous studies on tourism have greatly discussed the authenticity of the sites and objects gazed at by tourists. The authenticity is studied as follows: cultural-essentialism (which is based on the pseudo of tourism and authenticity of the host-society) (Hobsbawm & Ranger, 1983); cultural-constructivism (including post-colonial perspectives that focus on: “Who constructs the cultures?”) (Ota, 2001); inter-personal authenticity (which discusses individual tourist’s experience in the tourist area) (Cray, 2004; Noy, 2004); and, finally, the “authentic experience” (which describes the contact-zone between hosts and guests) (Bruner, 2005).
This article reveals that the texts discussing the authenticity are repeatedly negated and explored in previous studies. Furthermore, the authenticity/pseudo-dichotomy of tourism objects are described as “public secrets”, that can be defined as that which is generally known, but cannot be articulated“ (Taussig, 1999, p. 5) Because of the impossibility to articulate that the sites and objects are real or fake, true or false, we seek out the authenticity of a tourist area. In the process of seeking out the touristic commodities become the exotic and fascinating ones that tourists consume as “authenticity.” I refer to this as authentic reality.
To support this notion, I offer a case study about “Himalayan stones” in Thamel, a tourist area in Kathmandu. The retailers sell “stones mined from the Himalayas” to tourists. However, they do not know if the stones they sell have actually been mined from the Himalayas or not. In addition, the wholesalers who sell the stones to the retailers also do not know the exact origin of the stones either, as the rough rocks from various mines is normally mixed before they are cut, grounded, and polished. Tourists, then, would also not know from where the stones came. Regardless, tourists continue to purchase the “Himalayan stones” and bring them back to their own country as a souvenir from Nepal. In this case, the tourists imagine and expect that the stones they bought must be authentic “Himalayan stones”. I concretely study how the stones tend to be authentic “Himalayan stones” through the interaction between the retailers and tourists.
Tourists normally go to a few shops to check the price and quality of the commodities, which is referred to as the “search for information.” Throughout this process, however, the tourists are masked in mystery whether or not the authentic stones are in the jewelry shop in Thamel. Because the shop owners are not clear about the origin of the “Himalayan stones,” the tourists eventually buy some stones that they determine must be “Himalayan stones.” For it is the “public secret” that authentic “Himalayan stones” exist or not, the tourists can imagine and expect they are purchasing the authentic ones. In this case, the “Himalayan stones” are the objects that continue to attract tourists and constitute authentic reality to this area.
