Self-orientalism, joke-work and host-tourist relation

Abstract

Literatures in tourism research have pointed out the hosttourist relationship is co-constituted by tourists and local hosts. It is necessary to attend closely to local people’s tactics and strategies to harness and re-shape effects of tourist encounters. This article is particularly interested in the subtle, covert forms of resistance that nonetheless generate circuits and networks of alternative meanings. In particular, it focuses on contestations over the notion of authenticity. With a study of cultural tourism in Lugu Lake, China, this article contributes to debates over host-tourist relations and contested authenticity by providing a nuanced ethnographic account of day-to-day interactions, engagement and power negotiations between Mosuo and tourists. The study highlights self-orientalism and joke-work as two primary forms of mediated resistance.