The beautiful country : tourism and the impossible state of destination Italy

328 Pages·2015·6.047 MB·English

by  Stephanie Malia Hom

THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
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The Beautiful Country
Tourism and the Impossible State
of Destination Italy
STEPHANIE MALIA HOM
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press 2015
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
Printed in the U.S.A.
ISBN 978-1-4426-4872-2
Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-
based inks.
Toronto Italian Studies
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Hom, Stephanie Malia, 1975–, author
The beautiful country : tourism and the state of destination, Italy/
Stephanie Malia Hom.
(Toronto Italian studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4426-4872-2 (bound)
1. Tourism – Italy – History. 2. Tourism – Political aspects – Italy.
I. Title. II. Series: Toronto Italian studies
G155.I8H64 2015 338.4'79145 C2014-906498-5
University of Toronto Press is pleased to acknowledge the financial assistance
of the University of Oklahoma to support the publication of this volume.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts
Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the
Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing
activities.
To Allison Rayne, my best friend for more than half my life
and all the years to come.
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 3
Texts
1 Codes of Travel: Italy’s Guidebook Tradition 29
2 Italian Montage: On Rhetoric and Representations 49
Practices
3 Destination Nation: The Grand Tour, Thomas Cook, and the Arrival
of Mass Tourism 83
4 Tours of Duty: Touring Clubs, Fascist Agencies, and the Domestic
Tourism Industry 105
5 Masses in Transit: The New Economy of Tourism in the Twentieth
Century 127
Spaces
6 Italy without Borders: Simulacra, Simulation, and the Postmodern
Grand Tour 155
7 Postmodern Passages: Souvenirs, Theme Parks, Outlet Malls,
and the Body of the Simulated Nation 184
viii Contents
Conclusion 213
Notes 221
Bibliography 263
Index 293
Illustrations
2.1 Il dolce far niente, postcard, circa 1910 55
2.2 Etching of the Colosseum, Piranesi, Le vedute di Roma, circa
1740s 72
2.3 Postcard of the Colosseum, 2011 73
2.4 Postcard of Roman she-wolf with Romulus and Remus, 2011 74
2.5 Medium-scale montage postcard, Rome, 2011 78
2.6 Large-scale montage postcard, Rome, 2011 78
2.7 Small-scale montage postcard, Rome, 2011 79
3.1 Portrait of Thomas Cook, 1864 89
3.2 Thomas Cook and tourists at Pompeii, 1868 94
3.3 A Cook’s circular ticket, 1877 100
3.4 A Cook’s £5 circular note, 1870s 100
3.5 Daily meal coupons for Cook’s tourists, circa 1880 101
4.1 Touring Club Italiano’s inaugural Milan–Rome cycling excursion,
1895 109
4.2 The Colonia Novarese in Rimini, 1934 123
4.3 Membership card for the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro, 1938 124
5.1 Rimini beach life circa 1920s 132
5.2 View of the Autostrada del Sole (Highway of the Sun), early
1960s 138
5.3 Fiat “Topolino” and camper, 1950s 138
5.4 First Autogrill near Milan, 1959 139
5.5 Alitalia plane with passengers, 1960s 141
6.1 Piazza d’Italia in New Orleans, 2013 157
6.2 The Rialto Bridge, Campanile, and lagoon at the Venetian Hotel
and Casino, Las Vegas, 2013 160
6.3 Ca D’Oro and gondola, Venetian Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas,
2013 160