After reading "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid and "Slumdog Tourism" by Kennedy Odede I wondered what role I played as a tourist. Am I making a economic change in the country, am I embracing the culture, or am I being ignorant and just pushing aside the issues placed before me? After all, this is my vacation, my escape.
Kincaid opens our eyes and welcomes us to her country of Antigua. She shows us the Antigua she knows, an Antigua that although it is beautiful and breathtaking, it is a country in desperate need. With a struggling economy, very little support, and the inability to compete in the markets makes progress unobtainable. But when we make our vacation plans we overlook the things we see in the papers and the news. Kincaid expresses that we think that by visiting and spending our money in the country we're contributing to the economy but in fact we're damaging it further. We're, in a way, forcing our culture into their country. The more we visit the more our country gets involved in the country. For example, there have been many successful attempts to bring fast food chains and foreign cultures into countries such as Antigua to help "stimulate" their economy. However, Kincaid expresses the negative results of similar mergers, "The Antigua that I knew, the Antigua in which I grew up, is not the Antigua you, a tourist would see now, that Antigua no longer exists."(p.23)
"Slumdog Tourism" takes a look at a different problem tourists seem to cause. Odede expresses his feelings towards the fad that many celebrities have imposed on many Americans. Many people are taking vacation just to see how the other half lives. It seems to be this obsession over being grateful of what you have and feeling fortunate. But instead of these tourist helping the less fortune they see firsthand they actually take pictures and find it as entertainment. “Slum tourism turns poverty into entertainment ... and then go back to their lives and leave me, my family, and my community right where we were before.”(p.1)
Hi Yvette - This is a great start. I think your next step is to talk about the connection between the two texts: how do the two different critiques of tourism fit together? Think also about how to make your observations more specific: add the 'bottom of the sandwich' to explain the importance of your citations after you give them. Think also about who you mean when you say 'we' - how is Kincaid seeing her reader and how do you say it?
ReplyDeletegood start; I look forward to reading more.