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

Resumen

La luz de los Estudios Culturales y de la teoría poscolonial, el presente estudio se propuso investigar de qué forma la imagen de Brasil en folletos turísticos que lo promueven en Alemania y Francia en las temporadas 2014 y 2015 está condicionada por la mercantilización y la exotización. El análisis centrado en el contenido visual de los folletos turísticos permitió acceder a las representaciones simbólicas involucradas en la percepción de Brasil como un Otro. Además, fue posible identificar lo que se designó indistintamente, por cartografías o paisajes culturales imaginativos en las representaciones de Brasil, centradas en tres dimensiones: cultura urbana, cultura rural y paisaje natural y, además, social y humana. En líneas generales, las cartografías o paisajes proporcionaron un conjunto de referencias responsables de la caracterización de los destinos: la cartografía de la cultura urbana se vinculó directamente con el patrimonio material, las manifestaciones culturales y los espacios “turistificados” que soportan las actividades; la cartografía de la cultura rural y el paisaje natural se relacionó con la forma en que la naturaleza fue representada y las múltiples posibilidades del visitante de experimentar experiencias; ya la cartografía social humana se ligó al comportamiento y estilo de vida del pueblo brasileño.

Palabras clave:
Turismo; Exotización; Mercantilización; Brasil

Resumo

À luz dos Estudos Culturais e da teoria pós-colonial, o presente estudo propôs-se investigar de que forma a imagem do Brasil em brochuras turísticas que o promovem na Alemanha e na França nas temporadas 2014 e 2015 está condicionada pela mercantilização e exotização. A análise centrada no conteúdo visual das brochuras turísticas permitiu acessar as representações simbólicas envolvidas na percepção do Brasil como um Outro. Além disso, foi possível identificar o que se designou indistintamente, por cartografias ou paisagens culturais imaginativas nas representações do Brasil, centradas em três dimensões: cultura urbana, cultura rural e paisagem natural e, ainda, uma vertente social e humana. Em linhas gerais, as cartografias ou paisagens forneceram um conjunto de referências responsáveis pela caracterização dos destinos: a cartografia da cultura urbana vinculou-se diretamente com o patrimônio material, as manifestações culturais e os espaços “turistificados” que suportam a atividades; a cartografia da cultura rural e a paisagem natural relacionaram-se com a forma como a natureza foi representada e as múltiplas possibilidades do visitante vivenciar experiências; já a cartografia social humana ligou-se ao comportamento e estilo de vida do povo brasileiro.

Palavras-chave:
Turismo; Exotização; Mercantilização; Brasil

1 INTRODUCTION

In the context of the current globalization framework, problematizing issues related to tourism makes it possible to reflect on contents related to identities, borders, alterities, and, above all, the relations of power established between tourist-originating countries and tourist destinations. This is because, although formal political colonialism is no longer a reality in most countries, there are still economic and ideological power gaps, which affect the way societies and individuals relate to each other (Brito-Henriques, 2014). On the other hand, although many countries consider tourism as a possible alternative for economic growth, it can also, in certain cases, be considered as a new form of imperialism (Nash, 1989) since tourism reflects patterns of domination and power between the central and peripheral nations.

In addition, modern travel seems to be a form of escapism from contemporary lifestyles, while tourism destinations are now represented as spaces of freedom and individual, physical, and/or mental renewal, not only by changing routines, but as an escape from the monotonous and alienating life produced by modernization. However, the production of difference seems to be more unprecedented in places “untouched” by modern civilization, where one can return to a kind of imagined past, far from “civilization”, albeit temporarily, allowing one to experience a state of simplicity and purity, reconnecting with nature (Cordeiro, 2010). Thus, the search for the different, extraordinary, and authentic has turned destinations into stages for tourism, with the purpose of producing a certain degree of estrangement which is so desired by the visitor.

In the context of tourism promotion, the predominant representations of “Third World” countries reproduce colonial forms of discourse, highlighting the contrast between industrialized countries and those in premodern conditions. Often such representations refer to tropical destinations as true natural paradises, where the natives are available to attend to all the travelers' needs, thus invoking asymmetrical relations between former settlers and the colonized. In other cases, they echo a nostalgic version of the colonial period, in which the non-Western world was seen as exotic, indomitable, and dependent. In any case, the return to the crystallized historical past is a recurring reality and corresponds to the lack of modernization of these destinations, as opposed to the modern, civilized, and developed West (Echtner & Prasad, 2003).

By problematizing the way the world is represented, researchers reflect the colonial legacy still present in the structures and practices of contemporary tourism. The promotional language used in the representation of the “Third World” has subtly contributed to the maintenance and reinforcement of the colonial ideology and the inherent power relations (Santos, 2008). In this sense, tourism verifies the dichotomous boundaries between the “Others” who, once constituted, become tools for (re)thinking and analyzing reality. That is, through tourism we can understand how we imagine and are imagined.

In the case of Brazil, the representations carry the marks of the exoticized colonial past, a reality that, long before tourism promotion, already passed through the various forms of cultural expression of Brazil. Throughout the centuries the set of narratives used in the representation of Brazil has been part of the relations constructed from the perspective of the exoticized Other, corroborating the superiority of the colonizer, who has invariably been in the position of the civilizer. Thus, the relations and representations of Brazil and its Others have been frequently crossed by associations of power and domination, reinforced, in most cases, by a binary of colonized and colonizer.

In the light of Cultural Studies and postcolonial theory, considering the importance of the topic of the representation of the “Other” established by tourism, and the importance of carrying out studies on the image of Brazil, this article aims to investigate the representation of Brazil from the visual messages in tourist promotion brochures^† collected in Germany and France in 2014 and 2015.

The content analysis conducted on these German and French tourist brochures allowed us to access the symbolic representations involved in the perception of Brazil as the Other, in terms of image content. The visual semiotic approach provided the key to interpreting the meanings and symbolisms generated by the visual messages. In addition, from this methodological perspective, it was possible to identify what was indistinctly designated by cartographies or imaginative cultural landscapes in the representations of Brazil, focusing on three dimensions: urban culture, rural culture and natural landscape, and the human social dimension. Broadly speaking, cartography or landscapes provided a set of references responsible for the description of destinations: the cartography of urban culture was directly linked to the material heritage, cultural manifestations and “touristified” spaces that supported the activity; the cartography of rural culture and natural landscape were related to the way nature was presented and the multiple possibilities of the visitor to have experiences; and human social cartography was connected to the behavior and lifestyle of the Brazilian people.

2 THE TOURIST GAZE AND THE INVITATION TO RECREATE COLONIAL CONSUMPTION

For Zucco et al. (2017) tourism promotion plays a decisive role in destination performance. From another point of view, tourism promotion tools can also be understood as discourses, by which linguistic and visual messages are strategically used to persuade potential decision makers (Hassan, 2014). Although seemingly innocuous in their primary function of attracting visitors, the materials (texts and images) used in tourism promotion are sources of subliminal messages, reinforcing the perception of an exotic and promising world (Chetty, 2011).

Conceição (1998) emphasizes that at the heart of tourist destination dissemination is a cultural process, whereby the existing (cultural or natural) attractions are transformed into something that transcends them, and which can only be understood by reference to the target social group. Tourist attractions are presented in the form of a kind of mythology, that is, a system of images manipulated by media language, “with all the real potential of our dominant myths to shape our imaginations, influence our actions, impart meanings to our lives and make sense of our history” (Hall, 2003, p. 29).

Urry (1996) suggests that much of what is appreciated by visitors is not directly the lived reality, but representation, or rather what people “contemplate” are ideal representations of the life in question, internalized through promotional advertising. In this way, the tourist gaze is not an individual activity, but above all socially and culturally organized as there are professionals who contribute to the construction of this gaze, through publicity campaigns, travel guides, literature, and the media in general. For Urry, the media has a significant impact as through it the collective identities of the different social classes and other cultural forces are structured in grids-a basic classification system-that is, borders that distinguish what is internal from what is external. Thus, people learn how and where to look (Santos, 2008). In this way, travel narratives sometimes impose their own cultural patterns on the “Other”, denying them the right to difference, or exalting the exotic dimension of reality (Matos, 2010).

In addition, the increasing ease of travel to destinations until recently defined as long-haul stimulates the production of promotional materials. In fact, tourism promotion attempts to portray the beauties and singularities of destinations (Aitchison, 2001) and especially the differences through the use of carefully selected language styles and words (Hassan, 2014). The invitation to recreate “colonial consumption” is (re)enforced by the images and discourse of tourist promotion produced by operators and displayed on the shelves of travel agencies, where they are consumed by potential tourists (Aitchison, 2001).

Tourists are presented with leisure and modern hotel facilities and a wide range of “all inclusive” services, with comfort and convenience standards set and imported from Europe and the United States. On the other hand, there is an exoticization of culture through the commodification of folkloric manifestations that, by imposing the place of the Other, crystallizes its identity in an exoticizing way (Moassab, 2012). Thus, for most tourists, traveling outside Europe represents real opportunities for cultural shock and exoticism, though tempered with other ingredients (Cordeiro, 2010).

In order be accepted, the subalternate destination must meet the interests of the markets from where tourists, eager for the exotic, originate. But the local inhabitants are left only to attend to the expected intentions of the provisional visitors, otherwise they will lose the market to another destination that will also attempt to satisfy travelers' needs. Although such issues do not involve the direct interests of potential tourists, and even if they appear subtle at times, a predominant Eurocentric discourse prevails in tourist promotional materials, which sees the rest as the “Other” and contributes to the perpetuation of asymmetric forms of power (Chetty, 2011).

In this market context, Aitchison (2001) argues that the “speaking subject” is often the western operator, and the discourse permeates ex-colonies and peoples who have been colonized. Tourist destinations are often represented by a set of descriptors that carry a strong colonial component, where they are seen as mystical or precious landscapes, preserved in their “natural state” to be explored by the potential tourist. Cohen (1988) notes the fact that the discourse employed by tourism promoters gives each destination a large number of qualities or values ​​with which its image is associated since they propagate and reflect a “fictional and dreamlike substance of the culture that produces them, selecting and integrating certain elements or concrete manifestations of this other reality into structural compartments” (Cordeiro, 2010, p. 25).

In addition to questioning the textual content of tourism discourse, scholars have devoted attention to visual language in tourism promotional material since tourism images can be viewed as contextualized narratives within wider political, cultural, and social discourses. This perspective considers destination images as “texts” that represent the world and implicitly convey certain cultural meanings and values. For Carvalho (n.d.) we are surrounded by ideas and images that reach us without our realizing the ideological load they carry, and so we end up forming a model that is shared in our social relations.

Given that forms of representation are never neutral, Name (2016) notes that the very act of capturing the image of the Other in specific socio-spatial contexts is already an exercise of power. Both the place-cinemas, world fairs, museums, television, the press-and those for whom they are exhibited-hegemonic or subaltern groups that identify or oppose representation-are factors that broaden or limit the colonialities present in the images. Thus, tourist images as cultural texts and reservoirs fit into the dominant ideology of a society, reflecting, and shaping discourses on destinations and identities. These not only silence the unpleasant aspects of tourist destinations but also crystallize the colonial historical moment, ignoring any form of transformation and converting it into a more appealing and suggestive product (Santos, 2008).

According to Silva & Alves (2014), understanding tourist landscapes as unique in their natural aspects and the intrinsic desire of tourists to enjoy them means naturalizing and simplifying relationships. From this point of view, tourist brochures are the main vehicles of communication between supply and demand in the tourist market, with the main aim of converting a potential tourist into an actual visitor. Most of the time they offer the consumer the first contact with the place to be visited, and, in order to differentiate them, images are selected that contribute to (re)creating or reinforcing stereotypes since their role is not only to enable tourists to recognize the destination but above all to arouse their desire to buy the product (Jenkins, 2003).

Thus, criticism of exoticization and commoditization of tourist destinations can be applied to Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, and some southern European countries, as noted by Cordeiro (2010), and even in such different latitudes, places are not differentiated by divergent realities: “But they are united in sharing pre-tourist fictional motifs that the tourist gaze has projected on them” (p. 133). Echtner & Prasad (2003), from the analysis of tourist brochures representing different countries of the so-called “Third World”, have uncovered patterns of representations and mention three distinct myths: the myth of the unchanged, the myth of the unrestrained, and the myth of the uncivilized. In short, the myth of the unchanged involves returning to the crystallized historical past, corresponding to the lack of modernization of these destinations, as opposed to the modern and developed West. The myth of the unrestrained refers to the presentation of tropical destinations as true natural paradises, where the natives are available to attend to all the needs of the visitors, thus invoking the asymmetric relations between old colonizers and colonized. The myth of the uncivilized describes destinations as wild and inhospitable, through the emphasis on primitive vegetation, animals, and hosts dressed in typical costumes, echoing a nostalgic version of colonial times. In this version, the non-Western world is given the condition of backwardness and savagery. The authors note that the representations surrounding these myths reproduce colonial forms of discourse by emphasizing contrasts such as industrialized countries-postmodern, developed-and pre-modern, pre-industrialized, and underdeveloped countries of the “Third World”-maintaining, at a broader level, the unequal distribution of geopolitical power.

For Aitchison (2001), the set of descriptors used in representations of tourist destinations corresponds to a colonial legacy, in which destinations are seen as natural mystical landscapes, preserved in time and ready to be explored in their natural state. Invariably, these representations, be they people or places, convey impressions of exotic, virgin, natural, wild, and desirable spaces. Natural landscapes are often represented in tourist brochures as hidden treasures or a canvas on which the tourist has the possibility of leaving his or her mark without local resistance. Moreover, although the exotic is often the result of caricatural representations, it is mentally constructed through the recognition of difference and populates the mind of visitors. Cultural differences between “we” and “them” are rooted in a cycle of production and consumption, and it is inevitable that, within a dominant discourse, “they” are not just “they”, with their different culture and practices, but rather the “Other”-inferior, backward, and often primitive and wild “other” (Alves, 2011).

In many cases, the central idea of tourism continues to be the presentation to the traveler of a mix between African exoticism and European modernization. Through large tourism ventures, directed exclusively to international tourism, places and “non-places” function as “opposed polarities”, coexisting within a certain order, in a "scrambled game of identity and relations" (Augé, 1994, p. 74).

Playing with the senses, tourists are led to experience very distinct pleasures, involving different emotions, or on a scale opposite to that encountered in their daily lives (Urry, 1996). According to MacCannell (1999), contact with the non-ordinary and the Other arises from the need of modern society to recover the “authentic”. On the other hand, Jenkins (2003) suggests that it is not only the search for new and different experiences that defines the visitor's decision but also the consideration of the gap between the similarities (home, safety, and comfort) and differences (lifestyles, cultural manifestations, natural attractions, etc.). Thus, travelers assess destination images to find the balance between similarities and discrepancies, comfort, and danger: “alongside the tendency towards global homogenization, there is also a fascination with difference and the marketing of ethnicity and otherness” (Hall, 1992, p. 77). In fact, the encounter with the exotic Other is accompanied by the production of the familiar space, where the traveler feels secure, trying to produce “in the global space a place that denies the place” (Rodrigues, 1996, p.76) and is, therefore, a “non-place” (Augé, 1994). That is, an enchanted simulation, common in advertising.

This “non-place”, unlike the singular and exclusive position of the place, does not have its own identity, or, as Marc Augé (1994) suggests, “if a place can be defined as relational and historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place” (p. 18-19). Therefore, a “non-place” creates neither singular identity nor space for its own history, but transforms heritage into a spectacle, without any kind of relation, but above all as a standardized space within its own similarity: “a spectacle of others without the presence of others” (Augé, 1994, p. 167). In this sense, Krippendorf (2000) considers “non-place” to be “a perfect universe, artificial, only a fragment, an assembly, almost always far removed from reality”, where “travelers learn nothing, or very little, about what life really is” in this destination which they visit (p. 43). There is, therefore, an “artificialization” of the attractions, with loss of identity, authenticity, and spontaneity. As a result, there is the production of equality and the creation of a fictitious and mystified world of leisure (Yázigi; Carlos; Cruz & Ribeiro, 1999).

In the case of Brazil, the subaltern condition of the country was always present in its founding discourse. On the one hand, the representations of Brazil carry the marks of the colonial past that, long before tourism promotion, were already included in religious discourses, travel literature, official documents, literary manifestations, and other forms of cultural expression. From the perspective of tourism promotion, the exoticization of cultural manifestations, the valorization of the colonial past, and the most diverse contrasts are features that attract visitors, promoting a presentation that is often reductive in terms of destinations and people, as a mere entertainment spectacle (Santos, 2008).

3 THE AIM OF THE STUDY

The material under analysis refers to tourist brochures collected in tourism agencies in two European countries from where tourists visit Brazil: Germany and France, in 2014 and 2015, as seen in Framr 1:

Frame 1
Tourist brochures produced by tour operators taking part in the survey

German brochures	2014	2014/ 2015	French brochures	2014	2015
Explorer		1	Du Monde	1		TOTAL
Gateway	1		Clio		1
Best Of		1	Terre Voyage	1
Aventoura	1
Ruppert	1
Total: 5	3	2	Total: 3	2	1	8

• Source: The authors

The methodology used in this study is exploratory and descriptive. However, the saturation of the sample was used as a criterion, in which, the German and French travel operators were contacted, and promotional material about Brazil was requested from them. However material was no longer requested when it was noticed that it was seen that information was being repeated and that the addition of data and information did not alter the understanding of the phenomenon. In addition, the analysis did not use any data analysis software.

4 METHODOLOGY IN THE EXPLORATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE MATERIAL

Many authors argue that contemporary tourism is a current form of colonialism since its ideology has continued to shape post-colonial tourist discourses albeit in a disguised but widespread manner (Brito-Henriques, 2014). In the context of tourism advertising, the images and texts provide stories, characters, and settings within "alternative" frameworks, whose main aim is to arouse the interest of potential visitors. Far from a natural or innocent perception of reality, they are part of idealized and pre-established discourses (Cordeiro, 2010), promoting not only the polarization between the West and the rest of the world (Caton & Santos, 2008), but, more than anything else, “imaginative geographies” (Said, 2007, p. 64) which, in the context of this work are also called cartographies and imaginative cultural landscapes representing Brazil.

To signify the messages behind an image (...) it is necessary to problematize it through its elements, to perceive its artefacts, articulations, ideas, and discursive formations that this image reproduces. More than that, the image must be understood as a system of cultural, socio-political, and economic representation, guided by specific interests (Silva & Alves, 2014, p. 465).

However, prior to any interpretative analysis of tourist brochures in the countries investigated, a reference to the methodological theory employed in the exploration and analysis of the material is necessary. In this case, we opted for content analysis (Bardin, 1991) and semiotic approach (Barthes, 1982) since they are suitable methods, mainly because they allowed access to subjective realities of the symbolic representations involved in the perception of the Other. In other words, content analysis and semiotics made it possible to “make visible the hidden foundations of discursive construction” (Cordeiro, 2010, p.137) in tourist brochures. From a qualitative and interpretative approach, the social and historical content under which they were produced was also considered (Campos, 2004).

As a methodological tool, content analysis involves the exploration and search for the meaning of messages. Thus, in an attempt to identify the main attributes conferred on Brazil by other European countries, the first step of the study was the content analysis, based on the aspects proposed by Bardin (1991): in the description of the material, that is, in the analysis of its characteristics, the images, emphasizing its interpretative element and cultural meanings. Inferential processes and logical deductions were introduced, which allowed not only the production of assumptions about messages but also the identification of the causes and consequences of a given content, and anchoring them in theoretical assumptions (Campos, 2004). It is precisely the dimensions of content analysis that enabled the decoding of messages:

Content analysis has a descriptive dimension that aims to account for what has been narrated to us and an interpretive dimension that results from the analyst's questioning of an object of study, using a system of theoretical-analytical concepts whose articulation allows the formulation of inference rules (Guerra, 2010, p. 62).

From the careful observation of the content of tourist brochures, linked to the aims of this study, it was observed that these brochures presented what the visitor could find in the destination, that is, the natural attractions, the material and immaterial heritage, tourism infrastructure and, in some cases, the encounter with the native population.

In the next phase, an even finer analysis made possible to regroup the categories into: a) international certifications/global events, contact with destinations/populations, historical past based on colonialism and tourist space; b) the codification of experience/adventure and nature based on ecology; c) origin/heritage, behavior/lifestyle, and beliefs. In this phase, core themes were also raised by opposing pairs: nature, grandeur/diversity, emotion/adventure, modernity/sophistication/prosperity, social/human and mystical/exotic, which, implicitly, are very important in category selection.

Thus, after an exhaustive exploration and categorization of the messages in the tourist brochures, three distinct categories emerged: urban culture; rural culture and the natural landscape; and the human social, constituting cartographies or imaginative cultural landscapes representing Brazil, as shown in Frame 2. Then, each of the cartographies or landscapes provided a set of references (subcategories) responsible for the description of the destinations. The first landscape to emerge was the “urban culture”, as a consequence of the combination of categories in international certifications/global events, contact with destinations/populations, the historical past based on colonialism and the tourist space, rather the “touristified” space^‡. This cartography is directly related to the material/immaterial heritage and tourist infrastructure, which supports the tourist activity. The second cartography to emerge was that of “rural culture and natural landscape” and corresponds to the grouping together of the categories: codification of experience/adventure and nature based on ecology. This landscape refers to the way nature is represented (natural and rural/ecological heritage) and the multiple possibilities for the visitor to have experiences and adventures. Finally, “the human social” cartography resulted from grouping the categories of behavior, sensuality, and beliefs, based on the subcategories of origin/heritage, behavior/lifestyle and beliefs.

Frame 2
Cartographies or landscapes and subcategories of Brazil representation

Categories/ Landscapes	Subcategories
Urban Culture	Material heritage	Immaterial heritage	“Touristified” spaces
Rural Culture and Natural Landscape	Natural Heritage	Rural/ecological heritage	Adventure
Human Social	Origin/Heritage	Behavior/Lifestyle	Beliefs

• Source: The authors.

A more in-depth analysis and articulation of the cartographies and landscapes in the investigated countries originated in general cartographies related to the way Brazil is represented in the tourist brochures analyzed, as shown in Frame 3:

Frame 3
Cartographies/landscapes and general categories relative to Brazil

Cartographies/Landscapes	General cartographies relative to Brazil
Urban Culture	A represented past from colonialism The exoticism of cultural manifestations A “touristified” space
Natural and Rural	Exaltation of a dreamed of nature Codification and organization of the tourist experience and adventure
Human Social	Lifestyle and behavior: an effusive, erotic, and blessed people

• Source: The authors.

These cartographies were found both in verbal messages, through words, and in the visual context, transmitted through images. However, in the specific case of this investigation, due to limitations of space, we have chosen to present only the visual content. In addition, although tourist brochures contain a text, they are mostly made up of visual messages, which play a prominent role in tourism advertising.

In addition to content analysis, the semiotic approach also helped to interpret the images of the studied tourist brochures. While the content analysis provided the descriptive and interpretative basis, resulting in the cartographies or imagined cultural landscapes of the representation of Brazil, the semiotic approach allowed the study of the meanings and symbolism generated by means of an arrangement of signs and the implantation of cultural codes (Barker, 2003) or, in other words, the way the images produce meanings. Thus, from a more detailed analysis, we found a set of culturally coherent signs that, although discontinuous, referred to global meanings within an in-depth description (Barthes, 1982). From this point of view, Joly (2007) states that “everything can be a sign, as from the moment we are socialized beings we learn to interpret the world around us, whether cultural or natural” (p. 31).

In this context, Roland Barthes, in Rhetoric of the Image (1982), discusses the nature of the image and the messages it can convey: a linguistic message, a coded iconic message, and a non-coded iconic message. For Barthes,

of the two iconic messages, the first is in some sort imprinted on the second: the literal message appears as the support of the ‘symbolic’ message. Hence, knowing that a system which takes over the signs of another system to make them its signifiers is a system of connotation; we may say immediately, that the literal image is denoted and the symbolic image connoted (Barthes, 1982, p. 31).

Barthes (1982) argues that, since images are polysemous they produce a “floating chain of signifieds” (p. 32). In addition, anchorage, often found in advertising, has an elucidative function applied to certain signs, functioning as a caption (Joly, 2007); while the role of substitution, identified above all in the cartoons and in the cinema, appears in a complementary/substitute relationship, from meanings not found in the message:

All kinds of subterfuges are then used, such as stereotyped images for places (the Eiffel Tower = Paris, Big Ben = London, Empire State Building = New York, etc.) or the use of fixed objects such as calendars or clocks, to indicate the passage of time (Joly, 2007, p. 128).

Beyond the linguistic or textual message accompanying the image, there is, in Barthes' (1982) conception, the denotative or literal message, which is related to it in an operative way. This is because the literal image is never found in a “pure state”, that is, even the sign of innocence is completed by a symbolic message. By using as examples advertising photography and images Barthes shows the distinction between the two: while the former appears to be a message without codes and supposedly naturalized, the picture presents a codified message. In other words, the denotation of the picture is less pure than that of the photograph:

the “execution” of a drawing itself constitutes a connotation; but at the same time, insofar as the drawing displays its coding, the relationship between the two messages is profoundly modified; it is no longer the relationship between a nature and a culture (as with the photograph), but that between two cultures; the “ethic” of the drawing is not the same as that of the photograph (Barthes, 1982, p. 35).

In the specific case of advertising photography, the absence of a code reinforces the myth of photographic naturalness: the image is seductive, “the scene is there, captured mechanically, not humanly” (Barthes, 1982, p. 35). Specifically, in tourist advertising, the image exerts on the traveler a great power of attraction, although no photograph used in tourism promotion can be considered neutral or without an ideological content as it is culturally determined (Mello, n.d.).

In this sense, MacCannell (1999) discusses the problematic component of “lens culture” by subversively challenging the concept of truth and establishing a staged authenticity. Thus, nature seems to spontaneously produce the scene, denying the mediation or interpretation made by the photographer. The images are presented as natural, and man's interventions (framing, distance, lighting, etc.) do not seem to have occurred: “the more technology develops the diffusion of information (and notably of images), the more it provides the means of masking the constructed meaning under the appearance of the given meaning” (Barthes, 1982, p. 37). In addition, photographs, visual consumption, and power are often entangled (Brito-Henriques, 2014) and are frequently based on a condensed, artificially regulated essence in the knowledge of certain stereotypes, or “barbarisms (…) as best being able to account for the signifieds of connotation” (Barthes, 1982, p. 39).

In a relation of production of meanings and/or power, sometimes the incidence of signs completes each other and sometimes emphasizes the aspects brought out. At other times, the images work as a backdrop to what could not be expressed through linguistic references. In addition, the visual content takes on considerable prominence from the plastic point of view (colors, shapes, compositions, textures, etc.), being a factor of great importance for the meanings that are intended to be transmitted in advertising messages: “the plastic instruments of the image, whatever they are (...) make it a medium of communication that calls for aesthetic fruition and the type of reception that it is linked to” (Joly, 2007, p. 68). In terms of the importance of plastic signs, Joly (2007) considers that much of the meaning of the visual message is determined by plastic choices and not only by iconic signs, although the “functioning of the two types of signs [are] circular and complementary” (p. 104-105). In this sense, Jenkins (2003) suggests that tourists are not attracted to overt and superficial attributes of vacation destinations but rather by the range of cultural tools, meanings, and identities provided by visual messages. Therefore, the special characteristics of tourist advertising photography are presented not only by the choice of theme, but also by the way in which they are represented.

But the message-codified, symbolic, connotative, or cultural-comes from a cultural code; that is, the readings depend on certain knowledges, although these knowledges vary according to the individual: “the image passes through someone who produces or recognizes it”, being an “object in relation to another that it would represent according to certain particular laws” (Joly, 2007, p. 13-14). However, the readings are not anarchic they depend on practical, national, cultural, or aesthetic knowledges (Barthes, 1982):

The connotation is not inherent in the image, but it is necessary to consider it as constitutive of the meaning made by the image (...). In fact, it is never too much to insist on remembering that images are not the things they represent but that they use them to speak about something else (Joly, 2007, p. 96-97).

In other words, representations are constructed from an articulated set of meanings between linguistic, iconic, and plastic signs, “in the thousand movements that regulate meaning within societies” (Metz, 1973, p. 10), produced in a certain historical-social context and consumed in a real and/or symbolic way (Ferreira, 2007). Thus, imagery representations are not immune to cultural hegemony but contribute to the perpetuation of ideologies (Brito-Henriques, 2014). However, if, on the one hand, the messages represent something about the context in which they were produced, on the other hand they also give rise to social behaviors and images (Mota-Ribeiro, 2005). In addition, the analysis of an image, whether linked to advertising, implies a complex process of identification, interpretation, and elucidation of the discursive, cultural, and social elements that surround the iconic object (Maia, 2016). Thus, from the moment when culture appropriates the iconic text, and culture is already present in the spirit of the creator of images, the iconic text, like all the other texts, is offered to the impression of the figure and the discourse (Metz, 1973):

it is possible to find mirrored in the perception of the Other our own pattern of perception (...) tourist consumption is a reading of the Other, in which the mental structures, desires, longings, expectations of those who read/consume are projected (Cordeiro, 2010, p. 18-19).

Here it is precisely the process of the naturalization of images or of a supposed “reality” that are intended to be staged, tending to hide the constructed and selected character, i.e., staged. Most often, the “unpretentious” presentation of nature in its “pure” state, along with the exoticism of cultural traditions and certain lifestyles traits, reveals artefacts used to entice potential visitors, reflecting a “set of crystallized human anxieties” around the attempt to rescue the lost paradise” (Cordeiro, 2010, p. 37). The image becomes a fantasy and fetish laden merchandise within a colonial world, with little or no connection to reality, and may even be considered in some cases a “non-place”. That is, a space incapable of shaping any kind of identity (Augé, 1994).

And last but not least, it is a matter of considering the images of tourist brochures as an instrument of the ideology of colonialism. In dealing with the representation of the Other (different, strange, and exotic), the attentive eye not only allows us to identify the symbolic perspective of the power relations understood in the tourist discourses, placing the Other in a premodern and less developed (colonial) world, than the world which produces the images (MacCannell, 1992) but also contributes to the ratification of a binarism of central and peripheral countries, which is related to the affirmation of one's own identity (developed, civilized, and modern).

5 THE IMAGE OF BRAZIL IN THE GERMAN AND FRENCH TOURIST BROCHURES

Over the centuries a set of narratives have been used to represent Brazil and are part of the relations, built up between Brazil and other peoples. Based on the tourist brochures collected from German and French travel operators, Brazil is represented by three different cartographies: cultural/urban; natural/rural; and social/human. In addition, each of the cartographies provides a set of references responsible for the description of the destination, as shown below:

“Urban Culture” Cartography

a) “A represented past from the time of colonialism” - based on the brochures collected in the operators studied, the cartography of urban culture is represented exclusively from the colonial point of view. Thus the images of churches and monuments featured in the German tourist brochures evoke the exaltation of colonial power and the evangelizing and civilizing mission of the European. Within this space of representation, modernity has not yet arrived, and the material heritage has remained immune to any kind of new influences. The images illustrate tourist destinations, especially Minas Gerais, Recife, and Salvador, as destinations strongly influenced by the Portuguese colonial heritage. Illustrations of churches adorned in gold, historical monuments, sculptures, and baroque architecture perform a supposed colonial authenticity. In addition, the public space is widely sanitized, with no human representation, participation or intervention by the natives. In the background, German architecture helps to create a strong cultural identification with the German tourist, increasing the possibility of the visitor recognizing the icons themselves, as in Illustrations 1, 2, and 3:

Illustration 1
Minas Gerais

Illustration 2
Brazil - Salvador da Bahia

Illustration 3
Blumenau

Despite the small number of references, in the cartography of urban culture of French tourist brochures, the material heritage of the Northeastern region of Brazil is promoted through colonial landscapes-colored houses, churches, monuments, etc.- competing with untouched natural settings, reflecting its “raw” state and distance from urban modernity. Moreover, the framing of the symbol of Christianity (the cross) highlights the catechizing character of colonialism. In other words, there is a destination crystallized in colonial times, with the doctrine of the precepts of the Catholic Church, but above all framed by paradisiacal settings, and far from the modernity of the cosmopolitan centers. However, in the case of French brochures, even in a modest way, these spaces (colonial and natural) function as centers of encounter between people, with human proximity prevailing. Thus, the streets appear as living spaces, places of informal commerce and sociability, subsisting in the daily life of the local population, which not only escapes a controlled and sanitized exhibition but also takes on an even more exoticizing dimension, according to Illustrations 4 and 5:

Illustration 4
Salvador da Bahia

Illustration 5
Salvador da Bahia

b) “The exoticism of miscegenated cultural manifestations” - if, on the one hand, colonial legacies provide a sense of familiarity and security, the exoticism of cultural manifestations “withdraws” the visitor from their place of comfort in modern Europe. Moreover, while Europe has exerted a great influence on the architecture and the civilizing process of Brazil, from the point of view of the German tourist promotional brochures exoticism is present in the miscegenated cultural manifestations. Thus, Carnaval, capoeira, Baianas (women wearing the traditional dress of Bahia) and the crafts of Salvador are part of the set of images that attempt to characterize the multicultural environment as authentic, according to Illustrations 6 and 7. In addition, the contrasts between the vibrant colors and the framing give the images a certain movement, appealing to the visual sensations of the visitors, and the absence of tourists and images that represent the local population (within a routine) offer the visitor the attraction as a spectacle.

Illustration 6
Commemorations in Brazil

Illustration 7
Salvador da Bahia

In the case of French tourist brochures, the European colonizing and evangelizing mission also offered the colony the opportunity to civilize and save its own soul, symbolically represented on the facades of houses, churches, and colonial buildings. On the other hand, racial miscegenation provided the mysticism of African religions, the exoticism of cultural manifestations, and the relaxed lifestyle of the Brazilian population. Therefore, the images seem to reflect the effusive, colorful, and miscegenated people, corroborating the image of the exoticized Other, as in Illustrations 8 and 9:

Illustration 8
Salvador da Bahia

Illustration 9
Rio de Janeiro

c) “A spatial touristified retreat” - in the case of the tourist brochures collected in Germany, the attention of the German tourist is constantly directed to the development of Brazil, but above all to the spaces reserved exclusively for the visitor. Although the images of hotels and resorts are forms of disguised advertising, they serve as protection against contact with the otherness of the Other. In this case, they are, as has been seen, “touristified” spaces. In other words, modern leisure facilities with comfortable lodging, swimming pools, private cars, and Europeanized services are available for the daily comfort of the visitor, according to Illustration 10. In general, tourist brochures omit traces of modernity, contemporary constructions or influences other than references to colonialism, except hotels and resorts. The few urban images are related to Rio de Janeiro. However, the framework privileges nature and doing sports, as seen in Illustration 11:

Illustration 10
Luxury Hotels - Rio de Janeiro

Illustration 11
Rio de Janeiro

Within a discourse which is affirmed as the antithesis of modern Europe, special attention is given to social contrasts in Brazilian urban spaces. The French travel operators present the “portrait” of needy communities, deprived of resources, and basic living conditions, trying to stimulate the visitor's imagination and offer unusual experiences. On the cover there is a poor community which, although precarious in terms of infrastructure, stands out in vibrant colors and lights. The image in the foreground of a child reusing a plastic bottle to bathe demonstrates not only the socioeconomic backwardness-also marked by buildings without any kind of urban planning, simple clothing (or lack thereof), the absence of basic infrastructure-but above all, the creativity of the needy population in search of possible pleasures. The facial expression of a woman (sad and old) painted on the stairs of a poor community neighborhood denotes not only the underdevelopment in Brazil but also the oppression and state of inequality faced by women in Brazil, as in Illustrations 12, 13 and 14:

Illustration 12
Brazil

Illustration 13
Rio de Janeiro

Illustration 14
Rio de Janeiro

“Natural-Rural” Cartography:

a) “Exaltation of a dreamed of nature” - in general, the dominant spaces in the German tourist brochures are natural and rural landscapes, strongly marked by a set of references related to the diversity and exuberance of natural attractions, suggesting the escape to the paradisiacal freedom of the Other place. Here, images work as a motivational factor, reproducing the myth of the wild environment full of exotic animals, exuberant flora and fauna, suitable for adventure and exploration trips, as in Illustrations 15 and 16:

Illustration 15
Pantanal

Illustration 16
Central America, South America and the Caribbean

The French tourist brochures are filled with illustrations that contribute to the characterization of Brazil as a supposedly paradisiacal and wild destination. Here, the natural attractions that invite the visitor to enjoy the peace and exoticism of a distant land are shown by the lack of “civilization”. In contrast, the variety of images related to children is projected as a space of escape and innocence. This is because, on the one hand, cultural manifestations are marked by the racial mixture and maturity that the adult presence symbolizes; in the natural and rural landscape, on the other hand, the images of children refer to the pure state and sense of freedom provided by the natural environment. In addition, the images that illustrate the Amazon signal the meeting of the visitor with the native population, through the presence of a blond very Germanic child in a hammock. And the images of a canoe and a buggy offer the visitor the possibility of experiencing a similar adventure. Finally, the image of an indigenous child, sharing the page with a jaguar, guarantees the visitor the exoticism of the environment still untouched by man, as seen in Illustrations 17, 18 and 19:

Illustration 17
Northeast

Illustration 18
Amazônia

Illustration 19
Amazônia

b) “Codification and organization of the tourist experience and adventure” - the German tourist brochures are full of signs that can be easily deciphered by the German public from their own culture. The images offer realism and place the traveler from narrator’s perspective. Like travel literature, tourist brochures seem to reproduce not only exploratory scientific journeys in search of knowledge of the New World, far from civilization, but above all, the encounter with the exotic and primitive “Other”. The visual messages evoke the exploratory expeditions in the initial centuries of the colonization of Brazil, symbolizing a nostalgia for the colonial period and telling the history of adventure and bravery of the European travelers from the most remote times. By making a deeper reading, it can be seen that the visitors are white men and find themselves alone, emphasizing the adventurous, exploratory character of the journey and giving more credibility to the meanings produced by the scene, as it configures trustworthiness, according to Illustrations 20 and 21:

Illustration 20
Bahia

Illustration 21
Bahia

“Human Social” Cartography:

a) “Lifestyle and behavior: an effusive, erotic and blessed people” - in particular, regarding the human social cartography of French tourist brochures, the Brazilian way of life is marked by an atmosphere of relaxation, sensuality, and the openness of Brazilian women. Here, the female figure not only symbolizes racial miscegenation but, above all demonstrates the sensuality of Brazilian women. Using half-naked bodies, smiles, parties, sea, sun, sweat, and scenes full of vibrant colors and sounds, providing a sensorial experience, a possible sexual freedom is portrayed, adding value to the country's exotic and erotic representation, as in Illustrations 22 and 23:

Illustration 22
Rio de Janeiro

Illustration 23
Recife

As with the immaterial heritage, the human social cartography of German brochures is also marked by difference, credited to the exoticism of miscegenated cultural manifestations. Here the body is the product of hierarchical relations between the white-visitor and the black-native. In this case, the visual content sometimes provides certain subtleties that the text is not able to declare. The female image reproduces the sensuality reserved for racial miscegenation, from smiles, colors, Carnaval costumes and effusive behavior. The female presence is conditioned on the exoticism of cultural manifestations, such as the popular festivals (Carnaval), and religious syncretism is personified through the figure of the “Baiana”. Additionally, the subaltern position of handicrafts. Thus, the spaces of manual labor such as fishing and mixed cultural traditions, e.g., Carnaval and capoeira, with “typical” or carnivalesque costumes, are reserved for the natives, placing them in a submissive opposition vis-à-vis the white-visitor, suitably equipped for adventure and “exploration” of the territory and for sports, as in Illustrations 24, 25 and 26:

Illustration 24
Brazil

Illustration 25
Pantanal

Illustration 26
Salvador da Bahia

Finally, both the images of women and the figures of native men are assigned the position of exotic cultural attractions, ready for tourist consumption. However, while women perform a “sensuous” body performance, men carry out the non-rational role assigned to the miscegenated masculine Other. By contrast, the white European visitor is a symbol of authority.

6 DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

In terms of the image of Brazil in the tourist brochures collected in Germany and France, the links between tourist representation and cartographies involving the destinations, as shown above, are clear.

In the specific case of German tourist brochures, the analysis of visual messages within the imaginative cartographies of the representation of Brazil made it possible to verify that the search for equality (colonial, iconic, staged, spectacular, and supposedly authentic) results in the production of a “non-place” (Augé, 1994), as presented in Figure 1, which refers to the conceptual map of the typologies of representations of Brazil in the German brochures.

Figure 1
Conceptual map of the typologies of representations of Brazil in the German tourist brochures

Starting with the cartography of the urban culture as mentioned before, the content presents the History of Brazil exclusively from the point of view of colonization. In fact, it seems that time has crystallized the material heritage, with no history beyond that produced by centuries of colonization, where German influences take a prominent position. Thus, there is an appreciation of the heritage produced by colonialism within a repertoire which is recognized by the visitor. In this context, Andsager & Drzewiecka (2002) suggest that the notion of familiarity is linked with a form of attractiveness and affective responses, while differences are defined from privileged positions within hierarchical binarism, such as center versus periphery. In brief, it is the ideology of colonialism that, although it ceased to exist as a political-administrative authority in previously dominated territories, continues to actively operate in tourist discourses.

Similarly, the desire for authenticity points to the profusion of exoticism, mystery, and difference of cultural manifestations, reduced to the essentialism of a spectacle of dominant signs, such as events (Carnaval and football) or miscegenated traditions (capoeira, culinary, and handicrafts). Debord (2003) argues that spectacle is the ideology par excellence since it is not a complement to real life or a decorative prop but rather focuses on the heart of the unreality of real society:

in all of its particular manifestations-news, propaganda, advertising or direct consumption of entertainment-the spectacle is the model of the prevailing way of life (...). In both form and content, the spectacle serves as a total justification of the conditions and goals of the existing system (Debord, 2003, p. 15).

The familiar and safe are also found in spaces reserved for the visitor, built to protect them from the unexpected “oddities” of the unknown world. In addition to comfortable leisure facilities, global events, such as the World Cup, the Olympic Games, international certifications, and the reproduction of internationally recognized icons, legitimize the choice of the visitor.

Although nature is prodigious, problems of security can be avoided, and the spaces of comfort and modernity are presented as guarantees of satisfaction to the potential visitor. The German tourist brochures are dominated by binarism of civilized and uncivilized, developed and underdeveloped, and center and periphery, reflected in the inequalities perpetrated by colonialism. Here, the luxurious artificial spaces of leisure (closed within reality itself) are in direct contradiction with social contrasts, which, in turn, are also found within their own simulacra. In other words,

everywhere one lives in a universe which is very similar to the original world. And things appear to be duplicated by their own staging. Thus, there is the occultation of reality, purged to the desert of the real, where it is no longer reality, overthrown along with the principle of truth (Achkar, 2009, p. 8157).

According to Urry (1996), the degree to which visitors request certain accommodation and service standards causes them to stay inside a “protective bubble” that protects them from contact with the society that receives them. This requirement is especially noticeable in relation to the visitor who participates in tourist packages promoted by the tourist brochures, who not only expects European standards of accommodation and food but also the attendance by bilingual officials and organized services, according to cultural codes of the country from where tourists come.

The representations of the natural and rural landscapes are strongly marked by the exotic dimension of the natural attractions, as well as occupying much of the visual messages of the German tourist brochures. A more refined analysis of the brochures also makes it possible to find links with the narratives produced by the botanists and German traveling scientists who visited Brazil in the first centuries of colonization in search of samples and knowledge of the nature of the country. The ecological approach highlights nostalgia for the fantasy of the prodigious nature of the New World, now operating within the postcolonial but not decolonized discourse of tourism. For Jenkins (2003), the strong influence of literature on the motivations of 18th-and 19th-century travelers was replaced by the fascination for visual forms and media.

Although human social cartography occupies little space in German tourist brochures and remains distant from the reality of the natives, ethnic markers are used in the construction of the Other, which are very different from the “I". The myth of racial harmony produced by colonialism is reproduced through the rhetoric of Lusotropicalism and the scientific models of the 19th and 20th centuries, which attributed the characteristics of the Brazilian population to the climate and miscegenation. At times, the discourse seems to retake the European civilizing mission or the need for domination (intervention, collaboration) of the developed countries, so present in the ideology of colonialism, even in postcolonial times.

In the case of the visual content of the French tourist brochures, the vibrant colors, certain signs and framings reveal and intensify the exoticism that they intend to present. What visitors experience, observe and learn most of the time is conditioned by the existing structures of representations and interpretation of the Other (Andsager & Drzewiecka, 2002). Given the attraction of novelty and difference, inherent to the human being, the Other becomes “exoticized” and commoditized through the selective use of images and descriptors. Tourist destinations are presented as authentic primitive paradises since travel narratives sometimes impose their own cultural patterns on the Other, denying them the right to difference and sometimes extol the exotic dimension of reality (Matos, 2010). In other words, “the “Orient” was not orientalized only because it was discovered to be “oriental" “(...), [but] it submitted to being made Oriental” (Said, 2007, p. 32-33).

In the specific case of French tourist brochures, the analysis of visual messages in the context of imaginative cartographies of the representation of Brazil made it possible to verify that the search for absolutely different cultures resulted in the production of completely exoticized representations. It can be noted that the brochures explore the desire to experience the different and exotic Other, using practices of institutional meaning to promote a presentation, which is often reductive in terms of places and people, as a mere spectacle of entertainment (Santos, 2008), as presented in Figure 2, which refers to the conceptual map of the typologies of representations of Brazil in the French tourist brochures:

Figure 2
Conceptual map of the typologies of representations of Brazil in the French tourist brochures

Regarding the cartography of urban culture, history is narrated from the point of view of colonialism, responsible for the main historical events and the development of the Brazilian civilization. Here, the discourse seems to reproduce the belief of the New World as a place of prosperity and opportunity. In other words, a land of exile, where the “contact zones” (Pratt, 1999), provided by the interaction of different cultures, not only resulted in the culinary, musical, carnivalesque, artistic, religious, and even linguistic variety but also acts as an attraction for potential French visitors. In addition, the difference is emphasized through social contrasts found in the poor communities and the discomfort with the wild environments.

On the other hand, the natural and rural landscapes are marked by paradisiacal resources. The visitor is assured of the possibility of enjoying natural poetic environments, and although they are equally inhospitable and remote, they are conducive to all kinds of radical adventures and “genuine” experiences. However, the idea of original sin, directly related to the representation of women, built on the perspective of the Catholic Church is added to the natural paradise.

In Aoun’s (2001) view, just as the lands discovered in colonial times were built under the sign of exoticism and eroticism, in the 20th century, peripheral tourist destinations are also based on the idea of ​​a tropical paradise and garden of delights. In this case, social and human cartography, built on the exploitation of the female body, has roots in the beginnings of Portuguese colonization. Since the Letter of Discovery, travelers' journals, Jesuit narratives, scientific models, national literature and, later, tourism marketing of EMBRATUR in promoting Brazil abroad have highlighted the position of women. If in colonial Brazil the naked body of the Indians incited lust in the eyes of the colonizer, the presence of the African slave contributed to the ratification of the eroticized imagery, which has long been seducing the visitor. Within the colonial discourse, “Brazil becomes a paradise of mulattas where the exuberant nature, the sensual and mixed-race women [merge] in the figure of the mulatta” (Gomes, 2009). Racial miscegenation associated with easy-going behavior and carefree lifestyle of the Brazilian people extended the erotic discourse and became the distinguishing mark of Brazilian society. Here, the images seem to be reproduced within the Lusotropicalist context, ratifying the false idea of ​​racial democracy imposed by the Brazilian intelligentsia. And added to this are the representations of mystic rituals, through the practice of the Candomblé, coming from Africa, forming an exotically inviting scene.

FINAL REMARKS

In the present context, the dominant and “exoticized” discourse has implications not only for tourism and culture but also for adverse social, political, and economic effects as the image of a destination is closely related to fundraising and investment and influences the self-image of the populations visited. For Carvalho et al. (2016), “when well-managed, country brands may positively affect countries’ internal confidence and external performance" (p. 112). Therefore, the aim of reflecting on the representation of Brazil from the promotional brochures that seek to sell it as a tourist destination is not merely to satisfy curiosity, but also to generate useful knowledge which could support practitioners. It is possible that, from a deeper knowledge of the image of Brazil in the analyzed materials, promotional campaigns may be planned and directed in order to change the image of the country that for centuries has essentially remained unchanged.

As far as German tourist brochures are concerned, the analysis of visual messages within the imaginative cartographies of the representation of Brazil made it possible to verify that the reproduction of a certain “sameness” found in multiple regions of the globe (colonial, iconic, staged, and spectacular) resulted in the production of a “non-place” (Augé, 1994). That is, in the German tourist brochures studied, everything is as if time had crystallized the material heritage, with Brazil having no other history than that produced by colonization. However, in addition to the absence of characteristics of identity, there is also the supply of highly codified experiences, in conditions of comfort and safety within European standards (markedly like everyday life) and, especially, a completely aseptic urban cartography with little human presence (apart from that of the German tourists themselves). In addition, the familiar and safe were given prominence in the German brochures as “touristified” spaces, and the reproduction of world icons were repeatedly presented in the attempt to legitimize the value and importance of the promoted destinations. Here, human social cartography functioned as an ethnic marker in the construction of the exoticized Other, very different from the "I".

The exploration of the content of the French tourist brochures made it possible to verify that the search for cultures that were totally different from its own resulted in the production of exoticized representations. In this sense, the brochures explore the desire to experience the Other, which is different and exotic, using practices of institutional meaning to promote a presentation, which is frequently reductive of places and people, as a mere entertainment spectacle.

Thus, representations of Brazil in tourist brochures presented differences but also similarities between the countries under study. In general, the historical past linked to colonialism permeated all the analyzed material. From this perspective, Brazil is in the condition of a pre-modern country and benefits from the civilization given by European colonization. Regarding France, in addition to the colonial context, there was an interest, albeit subtle, in the development of Brazil after its independence from Portugal. In addition, there was a consensus in the analyzed material regarding the representation of natural landscapes since all the brochures referred to the reproduction of the ancient belief that paradise was in Brazil. Here, the miscegenated cultural manifestations were also added to the diversity and exuberance of the untouched natural landscapes, corroborating the perception of exoticism by tourists.

However, while on the one hand, Brazil has been represented as an exotic destination in all tourist brochures, on the other hand, the “touristified” spaces and codified experiences have aimed at providing the security and comfort to which visitors are accustomed, especially in terms of the German brochures.

Among the main differences were the forms of contact with the destination culture. The German tourist brochures did not show a deepening of the local Brazilian culture. Representations were linked to stereotyped cultural manifestations, where the visitor takes on the position of spectator, contributing to the (re)production of “non-places” (Augé, 1994). In the German tourist brochures, the production of “non-place” was related to the presentation of a “touristified” destination, equal, safe, organized, aseptic, etc. That is, they fulfilled the criteria of the German visitor. The French brochures showed an interest in the Other through the exoticized cultural manifestations, the sensuality of Brazilian women and the religious syncretism of the miscegenated people.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that at a global level (colonial), all decolonialized destinations are treated in a similar way, which suggests a new concept of "non-post-colonial destinations", since all such destinations are qualified in a similar way, regardless of their location in Latin America, the African continent, the East, or even Eastern Europe!

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Tourist Brochure References

• Aventoura (2014). Brasilien. Rehlingstraße: aventoura.
• Best Of (2014/2015). Sudamerika. Stuttigart: Best Of Tavel Group.
• Clio (2015). Amerique, Pacifique, Afrique. Paris: Clio Voyages Culturels.
• Du Monde (2014). Voyageurs au Bresil. Paris: Voyageurs du Monde.
• Explorer (2014/2015). Mittel - & Sudamerika, Karibik. Schlier: Explorer.
• Gateway (2014). Brasilien. Leipzing: Gatewaybrazil
• Ruppert (2014). Brasilien neu entdecken ... Munique: Ruppertbrasil.
• Terre Voyages (2014). Terre Bresil. Paris, Terre Voyages.

• *
  This study was funded in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES).
• †
  In a general understanding, tourism promotion brochures are printed materials with images and texts about tourism destinations Tour Operators market and promote.
• ‡
  The “touristified” space is organized around visitors’ own space - airports, accommodation, restaurants, leisure activities, etc.

• Peer-reviewed paper.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  01 July 2019
• Date of issue
  May-Aug 2019

History

• Received
  22 Oct 2018
• Accepted
  07 Jan 2019