The Tourist

Author: Meghan Howell

I have never been displaced, or exiled. Perhaps for This reason

                                                               I feel that I Have to “get away” every now and    

             then. This is more of an exercise in charactEr building than anything else.

                                                                              

 

                                    It is also a  luxury, I realize thaT.

                           I have been to Europe five times nOw. To Latin America only twice.

      I do consider my affinity for Paris to be highly Unoriginal.

           I am not afraid to be away from home, I get Restless after awhile. This too is a

                                     freedom. Perhaps next time I should go to some less developed       

  country. But this seems unoriginal too. In fact, aSia is the new Europe. At least, I tell            

       myself, I don’t go to resorts. I must be ever waTchful not to see with imperial eyes.

 

                                                                                  Le touriste a la peau blanche sensible      

                              au soleil chaud des lieux exotiquEs.

 

                                                       Il doit faire attenTion. Il y a aussi

                                                                   des pickpOckets qui lui guettent.

                               La camera autour du cou et le gUide devant en font de lui une cible.

                                   Ces choses signalent sa vulnéRabilité, au soleil et aux pickpockets.

                         Le touriste est exclusivement monolIngue. Si Rosi Braidotti aurait évoqué             

                                une figuration du touriste[1], elle Serait composée de sa classe sociale  

                              et économique comme le migranT, mais nostalgique

                                            d’un lieu qui n’a jamais Existé.


[1] Elle s’efforce de trouver une figuration pour la femme autre que celle de l’exilée. Elle décrit la migrante et le nomade.

Braidotti, Rosi. “Introduction: By way of Nomadism.” Nomadic Subjects. New York: Columbia University Press.