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Balinese identity as tourist attraction

From `cultural tourism' (pariwisata budaya) to `Bali erect' (ajeg Bali)

LASEMA - Centre Asie du Sud-Est, CNRS-EHESS, Paris, France,mpicard{at}vjf.cnrs.fr

In this article, I describe how I became interested in tourism and how I went about studying it, before expounding where the study of tourism in Bali led me. Tourism neither `polluted' Balinese culture (as some of its critics would have it) nor entailed its `renaissance' (as the proponents of `cultural tourism' are prone to claim). What happened is that the focus on `cultural' tourism convinced the Balinese people that they have a `culture', something precious and perishable that they perceive as a capital to be exploited and as a heritage to be protected. As it was being manipulated and appropriated by the tourism industry, their culture became not only a source of profit and pride, but also a cause of anxiety for the Balinese, who started wondering whether they were still authentically Balinese. Thus it is that tourism provoked an overriding concern about identity amongst the Balinese — about what they call their `Balineseness'.

Key Words: Bali • Bali erect • Balineseness • cultural tourism • touristic culture • touristification

Tourist Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, 155-173 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1468797608099246


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