Literary Festival Research Articles

Литературный туризм как социальное явление: исследование культурных практик и туристической индустрии в России

This article scrutinizes literary tourism as a social phenomenon, delving into its sociocultural aspects, including the formation of tourists’ identities, their attitudes towards cultural heritage, and their perception of literary works. It underscores the pivotal role of literary tourism in the development of regional economy and cultural tourism at large. The significant importance of literary routes, writers’ museums, and literary festivals in attract-ing tourists and shaping the image of cultural tourism in Russia is highlighted, alongside the impact of literary works on tourist activity. Literary sites that allure tourists are identified. The article presents a study elucidating the influence of literary heritage on the development of the tourism industry in Russia. The results of the study facilitate a deeper understanding of the dynamics of literary tourism as a social phenomenon and its contribu-tion to the development of the country’s cultural sphere.

How literary tourism changes the tourists’ “baggage”: a conceptual framework for the educational function of literary tourism

ABSTRACT This conceptual study aims to provide a framework for the educational function of literary tourism, a niche within cultural, heritage and media-related tourism, by focusing on the relationship between tourism and education. The conceptual framework, established through previous research on literary museums, literary festivals, and literary routes, demonstrates that literary tourism offers tourists experiential and transformative learning experiences. Literary tourism offerings not only influence tourists’ literary knowledge and practical skill levels but also provide awareness that can potentially transform their personal lives and alter perspectives. The gains individuals acquire through literary tourism highlight the necessity of emphasizing the educational function of literary tourism. This underscores the significance for literary sites, literary destinations, tour operators, educational institutions, and similar stakeholders to invest in promoting this educational function. The conceptual framework outlined in this study regarding the educational function of literary tourism can serve as a valuable reference point for literary tourism initiatives and research.

Lives in Music

One of the more annoying aspects of the life of a popular music academic is that we study music that is primarily made and used by people who seem to have no interest at all in what we have to say. Popular musicians and fans are engaged with what we're talking about but not with how we talk about it. When the first volume of our history of live music came out, covering 1950–67 (Frith et al. 2013), I did some non-academic promotional work for it – presenting our book at a literary festival, library events and pensioners’ clubs (these were the people who had lived through what we were describing). Audiences were, like my non-academic friends, sufficiently interested in live music history to discuss our findings with enthusiasm but, at the same time, found the book unreadable. They couldn't be doing with academic research conventions, with the references constantly interrupting the narrative flow, with the painstaking collection and assessment of evidence, the stolid back and forth between the particular (the facts) and the general (the concepts).

Event Sastra Festival Temu Penyair Asia Tenggara II di Padang Panjang sebagai Potensi Pariwisata

This research aims to explore the literary event, theTemu Penyair Asia Tenggara II (TPAT) or Southeast Asian Poets Gathering II, as a potential tourism attraction. The background of this study lies in the existence of various literary festivals across the archipelago that have the potential to boost tourism, yet remain unknown to the wider public. One such event is held in Padang Panjang. This research investigates the impact of visitors' experiences on their return visits to the city where the festival takes place. The methodology employed in this research is a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative methods were used to collect data through a survey questionnaire distributed to 14 respondents, covering 10 key indicators. Subsequently, the questionnaire data was processed using qualitative descriptive analysis with a focus on literary tourism. The research corpus is the TPAT II festival held in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra. Data collection involved distributing questionnaires to 14 correspondents, addressing 10 specific indicators. The research process included data collection through field surveys. The collected data was then processed and analyzed to reveal the literary event's potential as a tourism attraction, employing literary tourism perspectives. The findings of this research indicate that visitors perceive literature and tourism, as showcased in the festival held in Padang Panjang, positively. This perception leads to a desire among visitors to return to Padang Panjang. Visitor satisfaction is anticipated to serve as a model for organizing other festivals, acting as promotional platforms for lesser-known places or tourist destinations, thereby contributing to sustainable tourism. Consequently, regions hosting TPAT II events are expected to become tourism assets for Padang Panjang.

Constructions of Cosmopolitanism in the Making of Welsh Writing in English

This paper argues that the politics of Brexit has created a particular challenge for intellectuals in Wales because although for the most part they have been interested in forging cultural connections with Europe and the rest of the world, they were forced to accept in June 2016 that not only a majority of British voters decided to leave the European Union, but also that a majority of Welsh voters had done so, so that there was a disconnect between Wales's intellectuals and its population as a whole. Going on from here the paper argues that establishing diversity, cosmopolitanism and interculturalism as typical aspects of Welsh culture, which has long been practised by Welsh intellectuals and writers, has more recently been taken up as part of the process by which Brexit was symbolically challenged within Wales. A key component of this commitment to a form of cultural politics that is both nationalist and also politically progressive in Wales has been its literature, which through various material means has been constructed and framed along these lines. Focusing first on specialist book series, then on  literary festivals, thirdly on sites of literary tourism in Wales and finally on literary prizes the paper explores ways in which qualities of cosmopolitanism and interculturalism have been embedded in that literature and hence in the wider culture. In turn, it suggests that establishing these characteristics as intrinsic features of the national culture has provided Welsh intellectuals with some means of overcoming the gap between the intelligentsia and the wider population created by Brexit and so enabling a reconnection between them.

Exploring literary festivals in Ireland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the origins and management of literary festivals in Ireland from the perspective of their founders or those involved in managing these festivals.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative research study explores six literary festivals across the island of Ireland. The research and data collection instruments include bibliographic research and a series of in-depth interviews with festival founders, directors and managers.FindingsThe festivals in this study have evolved from a range of origins and are strongly influenced by the artistic vision and strategic approach of their founders and/or directors. Generating adequate revenue remains a constant challenge for these festivals as they rely on three primary sources of funding, i.e. ticket sales, sponsorship and grant support. Volunteering at literary festivals provides an opportunity for increased community involvement, participation and a sense of co-creation. Building strong partnerships and positive stakeholder engagement is fundamental to successful festival support and funding, ensuring that festivals can deliver well-structured programmes that will attract a loyal and engaging audience.Research limitations/implicationsThis exploratory research is limited to six literary festivals in Ireland and there is potential to extend this into a more comprehensive study.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights into this increasingly popular festival sector and identifies practical strategies for developing and managing literary festivals and related events.Originality/valueEven though literary festivals have proliferated in Ireland over the past twenty years, there is a dearth of academic research in this area. The research study focuses on literary festivals, primarily from a “supply” rather than “demand” perspective.

Implementation of Smart Pop Up Book Media to Improve Read-Write Literacy in Children

Literacy improvement is a crucial task that is carried out in both schools and homes, or lingkungan. This is how the government was informed through the national literary festival. Using interactive media can help with literary event execution. Currently, children are becoming more interested in contemporary media or games like smartphones, tablets, and other devices of that nature. However, if children are not aware of their peers' sex, a variety of media might be harmful to them. Due to this, educators conducted media savvy pop-up book evaluations to promote early literacy in children. The purpose of this paper is to understand how to create a media smart pop-up book program for teaching children to read. Based on the mosque, this study was conducted on children aged 7 to 12 in Buntu Batu, Kecamatan Bastem, Kabupaten Luwu, and Sulawesi Selatan. The current study used a kualitatif deskriptif design for qualitative research. The study's findings are based on the development of young children's language literacy, which can improve when using media such as smart pop-up books during instruction. In light of this, it is evident that media smart pop-up books may be used to teach young children and assist them in developing their reading abilities.

ROLE OF ALHAMRA ARTS COUNCIL IN PROMOTING LITERATURE AND CULTURE

Alhamra Arts Council is the largest cultural center of Pakistan with international recognition. It has emerged as a center of cultural activities in the last 70 years. Alhamra gave new life to many dying arts. Through the platform of Alhamra, the youth are trained by expert teachers in various arts at a very low cost. People of great academic, literary and social importance have been holding its administrative positions. It is best known for drama. Many renowned artists, especially from the field of drama have been expressing their talent through its platform. Not only fiction or drama, but painting, dance, music, sculpture, all genres of literature and culture were promoted by Alhamra. All the national and religious festivals are also celebrated here and the literary festivals held here, have made it the name of Pakistan abroad. Alhamra has certainly emerged as the face of Pakistani culture.

Når litteraturfestivalen finner sted

The article presents a qualitative analyses of three Norwegian literary festivals (Litteratursymposiet in Odda, Bergen International Literary Festival and Norsk Litteraturfestival Sigrid Undset-dagene). The analyses build on interviews with central actors of the festivals and participating observations at the festivals, during 2021 and 2022. We discuss what traditions the festivals build on, and take particular interest in the varied ways these three festivals build communities in the post-pandemics period, interact with their host cities and with their audiences, and discuss how the festivals’ centripetal and centrifugal forces are in play.

The impact of literary festivals on boosting tourist activity: the case of Escritaria

The growing awareness towards literary tourism has given it a gradual popularity, strengthening its role in the tourist offer in Portugal. Aware of this fact, we discuss, in this paper, the main initiatives of literary festivals in the country in the city of Penafiel. Experiences, images, and texts are increasingly important to achieve tourist realities. And it is through literary festivals that they are enhanced. Although event tourism has an increasingly interdisciplinary approach, the analysis of the literary experience is still scarce. The main goal of this article is to understand the experience provided by the literary festival ESCRITARIA which took place in 2022, holding its 15th edition. Therefore, a thorough literature review was done, as well as an exploratory and quantitative investigation. In addition, a data collection was carried out with a questionnaire designed to be answered online by the national and international participants in Escritaria. To understand Escritaria as a literary event proposal, one surveyed a sample of national and foreign participants in the festival; since it took place during the event, it allowed one to gauge the importance of literary events as an enhancing offer of the tourist activity. Starting from the sociodemographic profile of the participants, this study aims to understand the forms of participation, involvement and satisfaction. The results of the analysis highlight the growing importance of this type of events and this one, in particular, a festival that has been building loyalty and expanding its audience, an audience of national and international scope. This festival not only increases the number of tourists/visitors, but also enhances the destination promotion and marketing activities.

Conceptualising participant observations in festival tourism

ABSTRACT There is still confusion on what participant observation connotes and scholars call for more studies on researchers’ roles and emotional reflexivity in tourism. This interdisciplinary research aims to unpack participant observations at festivals. Findings from literary festivals in Ireland and Italy suggest that participant observations are Holistic Research Experiences and are characterised by four elements. First, they go beyond the visual and the multisensory nature, to be holistic experiences. Second, fieldwork is emplaced since researchers are situated in the field and can feel bodily sensations and empathy, but are not fully immersed. Third, the researchers’ participation continuum does not go from complete observer to complete participant, but it goes from passive to active involvement in the festival activities. Fourth, different passive/active, intentional/unintentional encounters can take place: human, animal, space, material, and immaterial. Finally, the paper considers future areas for research.

A publisher’s perspective on diversity: A conversation with Hermione Thompson

ABSTRACT In this conversation, Hamish Hamilton’s editorial director Hermione Thompson discusses the stages by which a book reaches the buying public. The role of agents and the different expectations of literary and genre-focused publishers are considered. The Black Lives Matter movement has been instrumental in the upsurge of interest in black writing and, while welcoming this development, Thompson acknowledges the importance of not pigeonholing writers according to their identity. That matters of religious difference seldom occur in editorial discussions may be a result of the kinds of submissions received, but Thompson acknowledges that it may also indicate a secular norm, of a piece with the white middle-class norms still governing the industry. The interview ends with a consideration of new developments, such as social media and podcasting, and the tendency in some literary festivals to rely on big-name authors to pull in a crowd, thereby further entrenching ethnic and cultural norms.

Beyond a tug-of-war: Motivation-based segmentation of visitors to a national arts festival

Travel motivation is a leading research interest and of value to various tourism sectors, including festivals and events. Most national arts festivals in South Africa compete for the same market, and it is crucial to understand what motivates visitors to attend such events. Utilizing a multi-year destination-based data collection technique at Woordfees produced a combined sample size of 1005 responses. Four phases of analysis: a descriptive analysis to profile the respondents; an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on motives for attending the festival; a cluster analysis based on the motives for attending the festival; and an analysis of significant differences between the market segments was performed. Two motivation factors were identified: festival attributes and attraction and escape, socialization, and enjoyment. Three market segments are identified: arts, ambivalent, and hedonic festival seekers. Arts and ambivalent festival seekers are more motivated by festival attributes and attraction (pull motive), while the hedonic festival seeker is more motivated by escape, socialization, and enjoyment (push motive). Motivation-based segmentation provides an excellent alternative perspective based on an Afrikaans literary festival. Although similar segments are expected to be present at other national arts festivals, more personalization could be implemented to satisfy market needs based on motivation to attend.

Designing an Event Calendar for Children and Teenagers: A Tool for Educational Tourism

ABSTRACT Design and management of events and festivals will create a new wave in the future of tourism education while they lead tourism transformation and innovation. Children’s festivals and events are tributes to the sound of children’s voices and can be a solution for attracting tourists to a destination, creating joy and happiness in these destinations. The aim of this study is to design an event calendar as an educational tool for kids in the city of Isfahan, Iran. A qualitative method (thematic analysis using MAXQDA) was applied in this research. Analysis of the data indicated 31 subthemes. Further analysis identified that historical-cultural events, environmental and agricultural events, children and health, literary festivals for children, art, sports and entertainment were determined as the main themes which are appropriate for designing the kids’ calendar in Isfahan.

Borba za čitanje u 21. vijeku - trka narodnih biblioteka sa vremenom

Public libraries are valuable resources in society. Although reading may seem less popular in the light of digital media, there are several ways libraries can retain their users and adapt to changes in the 21st century. How public libraries can attract and retain users in the digital age is discussed in this paper. First of all, every public library must enable digital accessibility to all its services. The library should provide access to digital content to enable users to read e-books, audiobooks, magazines, and other digital resources. This provision of access to computers with access to the internet or only to a Wi-Fi network for users in the library becomes the most important form of public library work. Libraries can use social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to communicate with their users and promote their services. Creating online communities of users through forums or groups to share reading recommendations can also help maintain interest in reading. Organizing workshops for users on the use of digital devices, e-books, and other technological tools, can help increase digital literacy and self-confidence of users in using new technologies. Public libraries can use technology to personalize recommendations for books and other materials based on users' interests. For example, they can implement recommendation systems similar to those used by online stores and streaming platforms. By collaborating with other educational institutions, bookstores, museums, and other cultural institutions, they can create synergy between different forms of cultural experiences. This may include organizing joint events, literary festivals, lectures, and workshops.

Literature, Power, and The Silk Road Literary Festival

Literature, Power, and The Silk Road Literary Festival

Navigating the AIDS crisis with open hearts

At the start of an event at the Oxford Literary Festival, Derek Frost talked easily with members of the gathering audience about his and his partner, Jeremy Norman's, charmed life living in a rented cottage called Needsore on an estate in Hampshire in southern England. His soothing received pronunciation and confidence in front of a crowd gives an impression of an older England—well spoken, well mannered, and well-to-do. This relaxed voice and easy manner also comes through in the memoir Living and Loving in the Age of AIDS.

Literature Festivals

Abstract Literary festivals have become authorities in the literary field, promoting works through the charismatic persona of their author, and operating a transfer of symbolic capital from the most famous ones to the newcomers. Some of these festivals are international, and thus play a role in the making of world authorship and of world literature. Based on a quantitative and qualitative study of thirty-eight international literary festivals, this paper focuses on the way international literary festivals reflect, even as they shape, the structure of the transnational literary field. International festivals tend to mirror the unequal conditions of access to world authorship and the power relations that structure the world market for translations. However, some of them develop strategies to counter these power relations. They are also more politicized, and try to construct a more diverse and inclusive transnational public sphere, where writers act as public intellectuals.

Pakistani Literature Festivals and a Scopaesthesiac Consciousness

Abstract This paper seeks to understand and theorize Pakistani literature festivals. In order to do so, I study the programs and schedules of the Karachi Literature Festival from 2010–2020 and the Lahore Literary Festival from 2013–2020. Using Andrew Shryock’s idea of Other-consciousness and building on Ammara Maqsood’s anthropological work done in urban Pakistan, I argue that the conception, programming, and execution of festivals like the Karachi and the Lahore festivals are governed by a “scopaesthesiac consciousness” – a consciousness of being observed and judged by an imagined outsider. As a result, the organizers and producers of these festivals are less interested in showcasing an organic literary production and more interested in portraying a “soft image of Pakistan” to an imagined outsider.

The value of the serious leisure perspective in understanding cultural capital embodiment in festival settings

Festivals have been conceptualised as serious leisure activities as well as arenas for cultural capital acquisition and embodiment. However, there is still theoretical confusion surrounding the process of cultural embodiment, especially in leisure practices. This article suggests that the serious leisure perspective, in combination with cultural capital ideas, offers a means of deepening understanding of how cultural capital can be embodied in festival settings. To make its arguments, the article draws on qualitative data collected at two long-established literary festivals, one in Ireland and one in Italy. Observations and interviews with festival participants were used to develop an understanding of participants’ cultural capital embodiment. The article suggests that the serious leisure perspective is a valuable theory to throw light on three elements of cultural embodiment at festivals: (1) body; (2) pre-existing cultural resources; (3) time. Interlinking serious leisure with cultural capital leads to an in-depth analysis of how culture is embodied during festivals. This article demonstrates the value of using serious leisure and the embodied state of cultural capital ideas in tandem to further understand cultural embodiment in festivals. The study concludes by suggesting potential future studies and areas of research.