Negotiating authenticity: Cathar heritage tourism

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores the negotiation of authenticity with the case of Cathar heritage tourism in southern France. Also known as the Albigensians, the Cathars were a medieval sect practicing in the Languedoc Region of southern France from the tenth to the fourteenth century. Cathar heritage tourism is based upon various museums, heritage centers, castles, and seasonal trading fairs or markets supplemented by the activities of Cathar re-enactment or 'living history' societies. This interest in Cathar heritage has led to a highly saturated calendar of events. In 2010, for example, the total number of all varieties of these events in France was 36, with over 4000 people actively participating and the events attracting upwards of about 3 million visitors annually. Based on a case-study approach, the geographical breadth of Cathar heritage tourism in France is outlined, giving brief case studies of each of the main types of tourist experiences. This is followed with a discussion on how notions of authenticity and commodification are constructed by key participants through the staging of particular types of Cathar heritage tourism. Keywords: Catharsauthenticityheritage tourismcommodification Acknowledgements The author expresses his immense gratitude to all those people involved with Cathar heritage for their time and patience when being interviewed. Notes The General Council has existed for over 200 years and has adapted towards the new missions which have been confided to it. The idea which gave birth to the General Councils is of the equality of all citizens. The Aude department is located in the South of France, in the center of the triangle made by Toulouse, Montpellier, and Barcelona. This territory gathers 302 municipalities and 108,926 people. Agriculture (and above all viticulture), craft industry, and tourism have a great importance in the economy. The LEADER Initiative (Liaisons entre actions de developpement de l'économie rurale) was established by the European Commission in 1991. It was designed to aid the development of sustainable rural communities following the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Initiative (or LEADER I) became available in Langudeoc Region in 1992 and 17 groups were selected for participation in what was essentially a piloting of the Initiative. This saw the inception of the 'bottom-up' approach to rural development, with the implementation of business plans and decisions on funding being made at a local level on projects. LEADER II commenced in 1994. It extended the Program to all rural areas in Ireland and was delivered by 34 Groups. While LEADER I had been a pilot initiative, LEADER II was designed to complement strategy for rural areas in the National Development Plan 1994–1999. In addition to increased funding and coverage of all rural areas, emphasis was placed on the development of the acquisition of skills and improvements to the animation and capacity-building levels to ensure delivery of the business plan for the area. LEADER continued in the 2000–2006 round of EU funding through the LEADER+ Community Initiative and the Area Based Rural Development Initiative (a sub-measure of the Regional Operational Programs). Again, groups operated in all rural areas of the country, with 35 groups and three national bodies delivering the Programs. The protection in France known as 'Monument historique' is a State procedure by which heritage is instituted for a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or an entire neighborhood, plus gardens, bridges, and other structures because of their architectural and historical importance. The association 'Kercorb Knights' makes live and renews the castle, but without subsidies, only thanks to the tickets of entry and the sales of products. 'The alternative is inescapable: 'either I am a traveler in ancient times, and faced with a prodigious spectacle which would be almost entirely unintelligible to me and might, indeed, provoke me to mockery or disgust; or I am a traveler of our own day, hastening in search of a vanished reality … ' (Lévi-Strauss, Citation1972, pp. 44–45).