‘The Black Sea Is Our Mallorca’: The Making of the Tourist Experience in the German Democratic Republic

Author:

López-Barajas José Luis Aguilar1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Sociology, Masaryk University , Brno , Czech Republic

Abstract

Abstract This article analyses the construction of the East German holiday experience in the 1960s and 1970s, when tourism became a mass phenomenon on both sides of the Iron Curtain. First, it discusses the role played by the West in shaping the expectations of GDR tourists. Mallorca was the ultimate, but not sole, destination, that influenced how East Germans imagined tourism abroad. Secondly, the article tackles how expectations compared with actual experiences. State surveillance, scarcity and lack of means were common challenges that East Germans had to face and clashed with the glittering image of tourism with which they were inundated from West Germany. The Bulgarian Black Sea emerged as a substitute for that Western tourism as other possibilities, such as socialist Cuba or Yugoslavia, were limited. Touring in Bulgaria became a long-lasting experience. The article approaches the multiple meanings of this type of vacation abroad. Political, experiential and personal implications shaped East Germans’ holidays and entangled experiences and expectations, and the article provides a broad understanding of the meanings of vacation and tourism for citizens of East Germany.

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

History

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3