Dark tourism as a management tool for dark and dissonant heritage : political change and public perception in South Africa and Russia

Abstract

When the global protests of Black Lives Matter commenced, it showed that the future of what this dissertation terms ‘extreme dissonant heritage’ sites is uncertain and are thus often questionable items on tour itineraries. In comparison, dark heritage sites are shown as more stable long-term sites for tour itineraries. The research explores possible steps to effectively curate extreme dissonant heritage sites to be utilised as tourist products. The thesis considers if the law protects dissonant heritage and not only dark heritage sites. Furthermore, it considers the history of legislation with changes of regimes in South Africa and Russia and its impact on monuments. The challenge is to manage public perception, and to recognise the trade-off that often occurs between public opinion and tourism, which informs decisions to keep or remove dissonant monuments. The thesis uses a comparative approach, exploring these issues in Russia and South Africa. The dissertation commences with a brief history of both countries from the late 1800s, covering heritage legislation and the significance of their global location. The research then turns to a discussion of dark and dissonant heritage sites under the respective regimes. The thesis further considers the central role of public perception of dark and dissonant heritage sites discussing representative monuments and sites from both countries for historical context. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the motives associated with, and steps necessary for, using dark tourism as a management tool for endangered extreme dissonant monuments and recommendations for the challenges dissonant and dark heritage sites face.