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3 Understanding the emotions of visitors to Chernobyl

  • Rami K. Isaac
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Critical Theories in Dark Tourism
This chapter is in the book Critical Theories in Dark Tourism

Abstract

Few studies have focused on the case of Chernobyl as a dark tourism site. The conceptualization of dark tourism still needs to be broadened and is nowadays shifting towards a focus on the experience rather than the sites. This chapter investigates the emotions elicited by the Chernobyl tourist experience by studying Chernobyl visitors’ internet publications (blogs). Data were collected from popular travel blog sites, which include online posts about Chernobyl and its visitors’ emotions. Five emotions were deduced from the blogs, including surprise/amazement, awe, fear/apprehension, interest/anticipation, and disgust. Additionally, this chapter also shows that both tangible and intangible attributes of the experience could trigger these emotions. The study offers implications for enhancing tourists’ experience at Chernobyl which could be adopted for other dark destinations.

Abstract

Few studies have focused on the case of Chernobyl as a dark tourism site. The conceptualization of dark tourism still needs to be broadened and is nowadays shifting towards a focus on the experience rather than the sites. This chapter investigates the emotions elicited by the Chernobyl tourist experience by studying Chernobyl visitors’ internet publications (blogs). Data were collected from popular travel blog sites, which include online posts about Chernobyl and its visitors’ emotions. Five emotions were deduced from the blogs, including surprise/amazement, awe, fear/apprehension, interest/anticipation, and disgust. Additionally, this chapter also shows that both tangible and intangible attributes of the experience could trigger these emotions. The study offers implications for enhancing tourists’ experience at Chernobyl which could be adopted for other dark destinations.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Foreword 1
  5. 1 Dark tourism: The need for a critical approach 5
  6. Part I: Dark tourism, affect and emotions
  7. 2 Atmospheric instability in dark tourism: Spatial construction of conflicting affective atmospheres at the Titanic Museum & Attraction, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (USA) 33
  8. 3 Understanding the emotions of visitors to Chernobyl 53
  9. Part II: Dark tourism and critical animal studies
  10. 4 Animals as dark tourism attractions: A prototype 77
  11. 5 Meet, greet and eat: Farmed animals as dark tourism attractions 89
  12. Part III: Dark tourism and critical memory studies
  13. 6 Trading paradise for Palestine: Dark tourism to refugee camps in the West Bank 109
  14. 7 The scope of dark tourism-scapes: Exclusion zones and their creative boundedness from Chornobyl to Montserrat 129
  15. 8 Exploring the intersections between dark tourism and Arctic traumascapes in the Anthropocene: The case of Finnish Lapland 147
  16. 9 “Despicable and disgusting”: Emotional labor, and the fear of dark tourism 163
  17. 10 Welcome to Revachol: Disco Elysium as virtual dark tourism 181
  18. Part IV: Dark tourism, power and identity
  19. 11 Sites of (dark) consciences: Investigating dark tourism cosmologies in a postcolonial landscape 203
  20. 12 Towards a postcolonial museum? Experiencing legacies of colonialism in dark tourism museum exhibits 219
  21. 13 Exhibiting power: Dark tourism and crime in the police museum 245
  22. 14 Representations in UK witches tours: Walking over the roots of misogyny 261
  23. 15 Critical theories in dark tourism: Over the years and beyond 277
  24. List of contributors 285
  25. List of figures 291
  26. Index 293
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110792072-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Foreword 1
  5. 1 Dark tourism: The need for a critical approach 5
  6. Part I: Dark tourism, affect and emotions
  7. 2 Atmospheric instability in dark tourism: Spatial construction of conflicting affective atmospheres at the Titanic Museum & Attraction, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (USA) 33
  8. 3 Understanding the emotions of visitors to Chernobyl 53
  9. Part II: Dark tourism and critical animal studies
  10. 4 Animals as dark tourism attractions: A prototype 77
  11. 5 Meet, greet and eat: Farmed animals as dark tourism attractions 89
  12. Part III: Dark tourism and critical memory studies
  13. 6 Trading paradise for Palestine: Dark tourism to refugee camps in the West Bank 109
  14. 7 The scope of dark tourism-scapes: Exclusion zones and their creative boundedness from Chornobyl to Montserrat 129
  15. 8 Exploring the intersections between dark tourism and Arctic traumascapes in the Anthropocene: The case of Finnish Lapland 147
  16. 9 “Despicable and disgusting”: Emotional labor, and the fear of dark tourism 163
  17. 10 Welcome to Revachol: Disco Elysium as virtual dark tourism 181
  18. Part IV: Dark tourism, power and identity
  19. 11 Sites of (dark) consciences: Investigating dark tourism cosmologies in a postcolonial landscape 203
  20. 12 Towards a postcolonial museum? Experiencing legacies of colonialism in dark tourism museum exhibits 219
  21. 13 Exhibiting power: Dark tourism and crime in the police museum 245
  22. 14 Representations in UK witches tours: Walking over the roots of misogyny 261
  23. 15 Critical theories in dark tourism: Over the years and beyond 277
  24. List of contributors 285
  25. List of figures 291
  26. Index 293
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