‘Less museum and more like Disney’ The infantilisation of dark histories: Objective violence at Bodmin Jail, Cornwall, UK.

• In Event: Cultural Criminology 2: Ghost Criminology, Dark Tourism & News Representation

Abstract

This paper uses the Bodmin Jail Attraction in Cornwall, UK, as a case study to explore how many sites of dark tourism have been subsumed into infantilised consumer culture. In these commodified, disney-esque forms, rather than being spaces of reflection and education, they act to perpetuate objective violence (Žižek, 2008). This allows us to fetishise the subjective violence of the past and disavow our participation in or acceptance of present and future harms. Using a conceptual framework that connects dark tourism with historical and sensory criminology, we analyse data gathered from a field analysis of Bodmin Jail, alongside Trip Advisor reviews of the attraction. We contend that, through the appropriation of dark histories and the goal of attracting infantilised consumers, these sites (re)inforce the importance of satisfied visitors, rather than introspective and socially aware citizens. We contend that through this disavowal of our contemporary shortcomings, the broader social implications of this are the risk of widespread objective violence.

Author

• Sian Lewis, University of Plymouth