Tourists’ walking rhythms: ‘doing’ the Tunis Medina, Tunisia

Abstract

The contemporary medina of Tunis is intimately connected to the various urban development stages of the city at large. Despite its UNESCO status and undisputable attractions, the medina is peripheral to Tunisian tourism development. Yet its maze of streets is walked on a daily basis by numerous tourists, who bring flair, choreographies and rhythms which also constitute the medina. While there are a growing number of studies focusing on tourists’ movements, using technologies that allow for accurate mapping of timespace trajectories, I argue that we have much to learn from the embodied ways in which tourists move in an unknown terrain. Inspired by Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis, this paper explores tourists’ rhythms and modes of walking, including their performances, body languages, stops and advances, and gaze interactions. Drawing on a combination of mobile methodologies, interviews and online comments, I argue that tourists engage in many different walking rhythms, which shift quickly according to the situation. It is the complex manner in which tourist bodies, rhythms and urban forms intersect within the contemporary city that contributes to the construction of the city itself.