Imaginative cartographies of Brazil in German and French tourist brochures: exoticization and commoditization^*

Cartografías imaginativas del Brasil en las brochuras turísticas alemanes y francesas: de la exotización a la mercantilización turística

Abstract

In the light of Cultural Studies and postcolonial theory, the present study aimed to investigate how the image promoting Brazil in tourist brochures in Germany and France in 2014 and 2015 is conditioned by commoditization and exoticization. The analysis focused on the visual content of the tourist brochures and allowed us to access the symbolic representations involved in the perception of Brazil as an Other. In addition, it was possible to identify what was less clearly designated in the representations of Brazil, through cartographies or imaginative cultural landscapes, focusing on three dimensions: urban culture; rural culture and natural landscape; and social and human dimension. In general, cartography or landscapes provide a set of references for the description of destinations: the cartography of urban culture was directly linked to material heritage, cultural manifestations, and touristified spaces that support the activities; the cartography of rural culture and the natural landscape was related to the way nature was represented and the multiple possibilities of the tourist to have experiences; human social cartography was linked to behavior and lifestyle of the Brazilian people

Keywords:
Tourism; Exoticization; Commoditization; Brazil