Ghost tour. „Straszne” dziedzictwo miasta

Renata Hołda

doi:10.23858/JUE21.2023.001

Published: 2023-12-20

Vol. 21 (2023)

A ghost tour. The city’s “terrible” heritage

Dr Renata Hołda

Journal of Urban Ethnology

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.23858/JUE21.2023.001

Abstract

Until recently, imagination and belief in ghosts were a marginal research topic. The “spectral turn” not only introduced the figure of a ghost as a tool for analysing cultural and social phenomena, but also validated ghosts as a subject of research. One of the elements of the so-called ghost tourism, located in the spectrum of dark tourism, are ghost walks – strolling tours that combine an interest in materiality and urban folklore. The dominant position in the literature is that due to their specificity, they are an opportunity to get to know the city directly and contribute to the creation of a certain kind of knowledge and alternative heritage. Based on my own observations of such walks organized in Cracow, I argue that the “haunted heritage” is not connected with undermining the established way of talking about the city’s history but is an attempt to show an additional perspective and inscribe “terrible” events and places into the dominant discourse.

Keywords:

ghost tourism, dark tourism, cultural heritage, urban anthropology

A ghost tour. The city’s “terrible” heritage

Abstract

Keywords:

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Dr Renata Hołda