Unsettling Heimat and the Touristic Ideal : Tropes of the Uncanny in Lois Hechenblaikner's Anti-Heimat Photography
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Austrian Studies |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://doi.org/10.5699/austrianstudies.29.2021.0121 |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.5699/austrianstudies.29.2021.0121 |
| Keywords | heimat; austria; tourism; visual culture; |
| Attached files | |
| Description | The pre-formatted surface of a Heimat idyll has long been an important site of criticism in Austrian culture. Expanding this critique within the Anti-Heimat genre, this article focuses on three photo series by Lois Hechenblaikner to argue that the uncanny represents a significant aspect in contemporary visual culture by subverting the strong visuality of the Heimat ideal as it is promoted in mass tourism. Dissecting Heimat as a commercial product, Hechenblaikner explores the dark sides of alpine tourism and mass consumerism and uses the uncanny as a central trope in unmasking the destructive elements of Heimat in the contemporary tourist industry. |
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