Looking, Filming and Framing - An examination of visual representations of The Gambia done by tourists
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2025-07-03
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en
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This thesis researches the representation of The Gambia as seen in vlogs and blogs made by Dutch tourists. It focusses on representations of interactions with Gambians and the associations made relating to those interactions. Several important theories are used to analyse those representations. Orientalism as described by Edward W. Said (1978) provides a framework to look at the way the West can look at the East. To remain in a superior position, the West uses biased representation of the East to suppress the East. The practice of photography is related to the theory of Susan Sontag (2002, 2003) in which suffering becomes a spectacle. Lastly, Mary Douglas’ (2002) theory of matter out of place provides an insight into the way matter can be seen as dangerous when unfit for certain categories. By researching the representations shown in the material, the research question “How do amateur vlogs and blogs made by Dutch tourists represent The Gambia as a travel destination?” was answered. This thesis concludes that the Dutch tourists are able to represent The Gambia as a country placed outside of their Western reality. It is a place to express pity when seeing poverty while simultaneously feeling the need to capture the poverty seen. For the tourists, poverty becomes a spectacle which they are able to view during their holiday. Moreover, the tourists are able to make representations of The Gambia while leaving out the agency of Gambian inhabitants.
Key words: Representation, Tourists, The Gambia, Orientalism, Photography, Video.
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Faculteit der Letteren