Product Information
To be a tourist in Libya during the period of Italian colonization was to experience a complex negotiation of cultures. Against a sturdy backdrop of indigenous culture and architecture, modern metropolitan culture brought its systems of transportation and accommodation, as well as new hierarchies of political and social control. Architecture and Tourism in Italian Colonial Libya shows how Italian authorities used the contradictory forces of tradition and modernity to both legitimize their colonial enterprise and construct a vital tourist industry. Although most tourists sought to escape the trappings of the metropole in favor of experiencing difference, that difference was almost always framed, contained, and even defined by Western culture. McLaren argues that the modern and the traditional were entirely constructed by colonial authorities, who balanced their need to project an image of a modern and efficient network of travel and accommodation with the necessity of preserving the characteristic qualities of the indigenous culture. What made the tourist experience in Libya distinct from that of other tourist destinations was the constant oscillation between modernizing and preservation tendencies. The movement between these forces is reflected in the structure of the book, which proceeds from the broadest level of inquiry into the Fascist colonial project in Libya to the tourist organization itself, and finally into the architecture of the tourist environment, offering a way of viewing state-driven modernization projects and notions of modernity from a historical and geographic perspective. This is an important book for architectural historians and for those interested in colonial and postcolonial studies, as well as Italian studies, African history, literature, and cultural studies more generally.Product Identifiers
PublisherUniversity of Washington Press
ISBN-139780295741413
eBay Product ID (ePID)232613999
Product Key Features
Subject AreaRegional History
Publication NameArchitecture and Tourism in Italian Colonial Libya: an Ambivalent Modernism
Publication Year2018
SeriesStudies in Modernity and National Identity
TypeStudy Guide
FormatPaperback
LanguageEnglish
AuthorBrian L. Mclaren
Dimensions
Item Height254 mm
Item Weight975 g
Additional Product Features
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited States
Title_AuthorBrian L. Mclaren