Journal article
Ironic Encounters: Posthumanitarian Storytelling in Slum Tourist Media
Communication, culture & critique, Vol.9(1), pp.49-67
03/2016
DOI: 10.1111/cccr.12127
Abstract
We argue that slum tourist media exemplify a distinct and growing narrative genre about posthumanitarian travel: ironic encounters. In ironic encounters, Global North tourists construct a humanitarian Self through their firsthand engagement with suffering in the Global South. In these stories, tourists present their travels as essential for coveted experiential knowledge while depicting locals as the true beneficiaries of the tourists' self-discovery. We examine 3 high-profile texts produced by visitors of Kibera, a densely populated low-income community in Nairobi, Kenya: the BBC special Famous, Rich and in the Slums, the book Megaslumming, and a White House slideshow about Jill Biden's tour of Kibera. Emblematic of ironic encounters, these texts ultimately justify slum tourism as a humanitarian act.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Ironic Encounters: Posthumanitarian Storytelling in Slum Tourist Media
- Creators
- Brian Ekdale - School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa, IA 52242, Iowa City, USADavid Tuwei - School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa, IA 52242, Iowa City, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Communication, culture & critique, Vol.9(1), pp.49-67
- DOI
- 10.1111/cccr.12127
- ISSN
- 1753-9129
- eISSN
- 1753-9137
- Publisher
- Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
- Number of pages
- 19
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/2016
- Academic Unit
- Center for Social Science Innovation; Public Policy Center (Archive); School of Journalism and Mass Communication
- Record Identifier
- 9984083808902771
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