The construction of tourist gaze: an iconographic analysis from the magazine a estrada de rodagem (1922 - 1923)

Abstract

Objective: Understand the role of the specialized press in the development of tourism, particularly about the emergence of highways culture in the early 20th century in Sao Paulo.
Methodology/approach: an iconographic investigation was conducted, consisting of iconographic analysis and iconological interpretation of images and texts about tourism, as well as their context, present in the magazine “A Estrada de Rodagem”, between 1922 and 1923. To support the iconological interpretation, concepts based on the “tourist gaze” (Urry & Larsen, 2011) have been employed, especially the imaginative travel enhanced by the images displayed in this magazine. Also present are references that help to understand the context of the construction of highways in the state of São Paulo at the beginning of the 20th century, a period that led to the creation of the magazine.
Relevance: The analysis of press images using Kossoy's (2009) methodology is unprecedented in studies related to the history of tourism. Understanding the role of tourism in the process shows its relevance in the creation and consolidation of emerging road cultures, which, as the study shows, had part of their argument in (proto)tourism narratives.
Main results: As a result, the study made it possible to identify aspects that, in some way, helped to spread car culture on newly built São Paulo roads, at the same time that tourism - still incipient - was pointed out as a social practice and communication strategy.
Theorical/methodological contributions: This study uses the concept of imaginative travel combined with a photography analysis methodology to understand tourism published in the press of early 1920´s.