The documentary Cannibal Tours: Ethno-tourism or back to the scene of the crime

Abstract

Based on analysis of the documentary film Cannibal Tours (1988) by Dennis O’Rourke, this article examines how ethno-tourism acts as a practice that not only objectifies and reduces the native to an indigenous object, but also takes shape as a constituent element of social relationships. What is more, it is possible to make a connection between the ethno-tourism depicted in Cannibal Tours and the ideas of simulation (Baudrillard), colonialism (Said) and multiculturalism (Žižek). These concepts allow us to describe the nature of the strategies of power at stake and the complex world of relationships that transform these cultures into objects for consumption.