Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies: Understanding Tourism and Leisure Spaces

369 Pages·2023·7.214 MB·English

by  Florian Freitag, Filippo Carlà-Uhink, Salvador Anton Clavé

Florian Freitag · Filippo Carlà-Uhink ·
Salvador Anton Clavé   Coordinators
Böger · Clément · Lukas · Mittermeier ·
Molter · Paine · Schwarz · Staszak ·
Steinkrüger · Widmann
Key Concepts
in Theme
Park Studies
Understanding Tourism and Leisure
Spaces
Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies
· ·
Florian Freitag Filippo Carlà-Uhink
Salvador Anton Clavé
Coordinators
· · · · ·
Böger Clément Lukas Mittermeier Molter
· · · ·
Paine Schwarz Staszak Steinkrüger Widmann
Key Concepts in Theme Park
Studies
Understanding Tourism and Leisure Spaces
Coordinators
Florian Freitag Filippo Carlà-Uhink
Institut für Anglophone Studien Historisches Institut
Universität Duisburg-Essen Universität Potsdam
Essen, Germany Potsdam, Germany
Salvador Anton Clavé
Departament de Geografia
Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Vila-seca, Spain
ISBN 978-3-031-11131-0 ISBN 978-3-031-11132-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11132-7
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
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Preface: An Experiment
Prefaces usually are where authors praise others for their contributions to the book and
blame themselves for its faults. In the present case, however, we take both the praise
and the blame. Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies is the result of an experiment—
a transnational, transdisciplinary collaboration between 13 scholars from different
disciplines and different university systems, speaking different languages, and at
different stages in their careers. In various constellations and over the course of three
years and four in-person meetings (all sponsored by the German Research Foundation
DFG), we discussed and decided upon the scope and the structure of the entire book
as well as its individual chapters and drafted, re-wrote, and edited texts. One person
may have drafted one chapter and added a few thoughts and lines to others. Another
person may have contributed different subsections to various chapters, which were
then partly re-written and, in some cases, ultimately moved to different chapters by
others. As a result of this repeated drafting, re-writing, and editing, it is, in the case
of some passages, genuinely difficult for us now to tell exactly whose words these
are—at least in this sense, our experiment has been a tremendous success.
It is precisely this experimental method, however, that also makes it hard for us
now to fairly distribute the praises and the blames as well as the conventional roles of
academic publishing. If the cover and the opening pages of Key Concepts in Theme
Park Studies identify coordinators and contributors, then these are merely convenient
fictions that we—once again, in a specific constellation—have come up with in order
to comply with the requirements of our publisher. In truth, we should all be listed
as authors of all the chapters and of the entire book: the pens were guided by many
hands. In addition to the authorship and, hence, the blames and praises, what we also
share, however, is the hope that this book will be of use to you as you enter or pay yet
another visit to the world of theme park studies. Here is another convenient fiction:
v
vi Preface:AnExperiment
you may pretend that there is a group of friends already inside, just waiting for you
to show you around a bit.
Vila-seca, Spain Salvador Anton Clavé
Hamburg, Germany Astrid Böger
Potsdam, Germany Filippo Carlà-Uhink
Paris, France Thibaut Clément
Essen, Germany Florian Freitag
South Lake Tahoe, USA Scott A. Lukas
Kassel, Germany Sabrina Mittermeier
Mainz, Germany Céline Molter
Milton Keynes, UK Crispin Paine
Hildesheim, Germany Ariane Schwarz
Geneve, Switzerland Jean-François Staszak
Bonn, Germany Jan-Erik Steinkrüger
Ravensburg, Germany Torsten Widmann
Contents
Introduction: Defining Theme Parks and Assessing Theme Park
Studies ........................................................... 1
1 Introduction ................................................... 1
2 About Theme Parks ............................................ 2
3 About Theme Park Studies ...................................... 5
4 About This Book ............................................... 9
References ........................................................ 12
Antecedents, Origins, and Developments: A History of Theme
Parks from Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century .................... 21
1 The Question of Origins and Development ......................... 21
2 Western Antecedents from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century ....... 24
2.1 Antiquity and the Middle Ages .............................. 24
2.2 The Evolution of Garden Architecture ........................ 26
2.3 The Redoute Chinoise in Paris .............................. 29
3 Eastern Antecedents ............................................ 29
4 Western Antecedents in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries ...... 31
4.1 The Sublime and the Picturesque ............................ 31
4.2 European Amusement Parks ................................ 33
4.3 Pageants and Spectaculars .................................. 34
4.4 Panoramas and Dioramas ................................... 37
4.5 Ethnographic Exhibitions, Zoos, and Living History
Museums ................................................ 38
4.6 Country Fairs, Agricultural Fairs, World Fairs ................. 40
4.7 Coney Island and Film Studios .............................. 42
5 The Evolution of Theme Parks in North America and the West
since 1955 .................................................... 44
5.1 Destination Parks and Regional Parks in the U.S. .............. 44
5.2 The Development in Europe ................................ 46
5.3 General Trends ............................................ 47
vii
viii Contents
6 The Evolution of Theme Parks in Eastern Asia ..................... 48
6.1 Japanese Theme Parks ..................................... 48
6.2 The People’s Republic of China ............................. 49
References ........................................................ 51
Attractions: How Rides, Retail, Dining, and Entertainment
Structure the Theme Park .......................................... 57
1 Introduction ................................................... 57
2 Attractions Mix ................................................ 58
3 Changing the Attractions Mix .................................... 60
4 Rides ......................................................... 63
5 Merchandise and Retail ......................................... 65
6 Themed and Character Dining ................................... 68
7 Park Entertainment ............................................. 70
8 Conclusion .................................................... 73
References ........................................................ 73
Authenticity: Theme Parks between Museological, Performative,
and Emergent Authenticity ......................................... 77
1 Introduction ................................................... 77
2 From Authenticity to Authenticities ............................... 79
3 Authenticities in Theme Parks ................................... 84
3.1 Marketing ................................................ 84
3.2 Design and Performance ................................... 86
3.3 Emergent Authenticities .................................... 90
4 Conclusion .................................................... 92
References ........................................................ 94
Economic Strategy: Conceptual, Customer-Based,
and Environmental, Social, and Governance Strategies
in the Theme Park Economy ........................................ 97
1 Introduction ................................................... 97
2 Conceptual Strategies ........................................... 100
3 Customer-Based Strategies ...................................... 102
4 Environmental, Social, and Governance Strategies .................. 106
5 Conclusion .................................................... 109
References ........................................................ 110
Immersion: Immersivity, Narrativity, and Bodily Affect in Theme
Parks ............................................................. 113
1 Immersion Versus Immersivity ................................... 113
2 Immersivity and the Role of Narratives ............................ 116
2.1 Theme Parks as Fiction ..................................... 116
2.2 Immersive Narratives ...................................... 117
3 Immersivity and the Role of Bodily Affect ......................... 120
4 From Immersivity to Immersion .................................. 123
References ........................................................ 125
Contents ix
Inclusion and Exclusion: Marginalization in Theme Parks ............. 129
1 Introduction ................................................... 129
2 Racialized-Turned-Economic Exclusion ........................... 130
3 Between Exclusion and Integration ............................... 133
4 Symbolic Exclusion: Dealing with Representation .................. 134
5 Visitors Reacting to and Participating in In-and Exclusion ........... 137
References ........................................................ 141
Industry: Global Trends, Players, and Networks in the Theme
Park Industry ..................................................... 143
1 Defining the Field .............................................. 143
2 Business Typologies and Corporate Developments .................. 145
2.1 Theme Park Types and Characteristics ........................ 145
2.2 Industry Development Trends and Players Worldwide .......... 154
3 Theme Park Clusters and Networks ............................... 161
References ........................................................ 165
Labor: Working Conditions, Employment Trends, and the Job
Market in the Theme Park Industry ................................. 167
1 Introduction ................................................... 167
2 Theme Parks as Labor Environments: Internal Organizational
Principles ..................................................... 168
2.1 Contexts of Labor ......................................... 168
2.2 Casting and Training ....................................... 174
2.3 Informal Organization and Worker Interactions ................ 178
3 Theme Parks, Labor, and Society: Parks Within Their Broader
Environment .................................................. 179
3.1 Impact of Theme Parks on the Labor Market and Local
Economies ............................................... 179
3.2 Artists’ Contracts .......................................... 181
3.3 Labor Organizations and Collective Bargaining ................ 181
3.4 Migration Patterns: Domestic and International Dynamics ....... 183
4 Audience Labor ................................................ 184
5 Conclusion .................................................... 186
References ........................................................ 187
Media and Mediality in Theme Parks ............................... 191
1 Introduction ................................................... 191
2 Media Ecologies and the Development of the Theme Park ............ 192
3 Plurimediality ................................................. 193
4 Remediations .................................................. 196
5 Transmediality and Convergence Culture .......................... 199
6 Conclusion .................................................... 204
References ........................................................ 205
x Contents
Methods: Facing the Challenges of Studying Theme Parks ............ 209
1 Introduction ................................................... 209
2 Queer Academia ............................................... 211
3 Failed Projects ................................................. 212
4 History and Archaeology ........................................ 215
5 Working with Archives .......................................... 217
6 Working with Databases ........................................ 218
7 Quantitative Research ........................................... 221
8 Private and Public Space ........................................ 224
9 Reflexivity .................................................... 225
10 Phenomenological Approaches ................................... 227
11 Landscape Analysis ............................................ 228
12 Participant Observation ......................................... 230
13 Publishing .................................................... 232
References ........................................................ 234
Paratexts and Reception: Images of Theme Parks in Art, Popular
Culture, and Discourse ............................................. 237
1 Introduction ................................................... 237
2 Theme Park Paratexts: Mediated Landscapes ....................... 239
3 Theme Park Texts: Theme Parks in Popular Culture and the Arts ...... 245
4 The Theme Park as Metaphor .................................... 251
5 Conclusion .................................................... 256
References ........................................................ 257
Space: Representing, Producing, and Experiencing Space
in Theme Parks ................................................... 261
1 Introduction ................................................... 261
2 The Doubling of Space: Themed and Theming Space ................ 264
3 Designing and Mapping Theme Park Space ........................ 266
4 The Experience of Space in Theme Parks .......................... 270
5 Conclusion .................................................... 273
References ........................................................ 274
Theming: Modes of Representation in Theme Parks and Themed
Environments ..................................................... 277
1 Introduction ................................................... 277
2 Theming: A Definition .......................................... 279
3 Externality .................................................... 281
4 Recognizability ................................................ 285
5 A Wide Range of Themes ....................................... 288
6 Theming Beyond the Parks ...................................... 296
7 The Limits of Theming ......................................... 297
8 A Glimpse into the Future ....................................... 301
References ........................................................ 304