Abstract:
Graburn has tied tourism to Turner's theory of liminality and communitas. Communitas, defined by Turner as a transient experience of being together and by Esposito as a debt or gift, may take many forms. It is argued that Venice is a city where the experience of communitas occurs with high frequency due to the large number of tourists, who on most days outnumber residents of the city, and the difficulty of traversing the city on foot. The crush of tourists and the disorienting nature of the city when encountered on foot lead to a heightened sense of liminality. The result is a tourist experience comprised of cooperative problem solving and intense interaction wherein a day of touring is filled with many instances of spontaneous meeting, collaborative navigation, and separation. While not an initial attraction for tourists to the city, "getting lost" in Venice is a principal memory of tourists in the narratives hey construct of their trip.
