Pozivamo vas na predavanje (5. lipnja 2025. od 15:15 do 17:00, F-205) prof. dr. Karen Leigh Harris (Department of Historical and heritage Studies, University of Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA):
MULTIPLYING HERITAGE TOURISM THROUGH MULTILINGUALISM
A South African scenario
While language is identified as a significant identifier of culture, it is often not seen as a tangible or even an intangible product within the tourism domain. This paper sets out to showcase how language can be elevated as not only a conduit to engage with the indigenous cultures and peoples of a destination, but also as a tourism product in its own right. It will consider language beyond the conventional language trip or language tourism which is confined to travel to a foreign country in order to learn a new or improve another language. The paper will focus on South Africa as a case study of a multi-cultural destination with eleven official languages and eight others which reflects on a kaleidoscope of cultures. It will show how this diverse language spectrum can literally become the vehicle for the touristic journey. By extension it will argue that languages can open avenues of cultural awareness and understanding, emphasising that language and cultural sensitivity is pivotal to engaging both the host as well as the tourist in order to bridge and overcome the linguistic cultural divide.
Prof Karen Leigh Harris is a full professor at the University of Pretoria where she is the Head of the Department of Historical and Heritage. She holds a DLitt et Phil in History as well as a higher education diploma and is an accredited culture tourist guide. She teaches both history and heritage and cultural tourism at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. She is former president of the Historical Association of South Africa and the Africa representative for the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas and is the coordinator of the ATLAS Africa chapter. Her research focuses primarily on the Chinese within the southern African region throughout the colonial period, apartheid to the new democratic dispensation and was used in two court cases regarding Black Economic Empowerment and hate speech and the South African Chinese community. She is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching and Learning, the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award as well as Faculty Supervisors Award.