The Themed Space

The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation and Self is the first edited collection focused on the subject of the themed space. Twelve authors address a range of themed spaces, including restaurants, casinos, theme parks and other spaces like airports and virtual reality ones. The text is organized into four sections-theming as authenticity, theming as nation, theming as person and theming as mind.

The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self is the first edited collection focused on the significance of the theme space. The first section of the text discusses the ways in which theming acts as a form of authenticity. Included are articles on the theme park Dollywood, the historic Coney Island, the uses of theming in Flagstaff, Arizona, and the Las Vegas Strip. Section two considers theming as a reflection of nation, and its authors focus on Chinese theme parks and shopping malls, the Lost City theme park in South Africa, and the Ain Diab resort district in Casablanca. The third section of the book illustrates how theming often targets the person—whether famous or everyday. The authors look at spaces ranging from the Liverpool John Lennon Airport, love hotels in Japan, and the Houston, Texas theme park AstroWorld. The final section emphasizes theming as a projection of the mind and psychology. The authors focus on behind-the-scenes tourism at Universal Studios and the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, the use of theming in unexpected spaces like Florida themed clinics, theming in virtual reality spaces of video games, and the social controversies related to theming in various parts of the world. The book includes a comprehensive bibliography on theming and a list of key terms. The Themed Space is of great interest to students of all levels and scholars of anthropology, urban studies and sociology.

Chapter 1 The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self
Chapter 2 Torque: Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, and Authentic Feelings in the Smoky Mountains
Chapter 3 Luna Park's Fantasy World and Deamland's White City: Fire Spectacles at Coney Island as Elemental Performativity
Chapter 4 From Downtown to Theme Town: Reinventing America's Smaller Historic Retail Districts
Chapter 5 Theming as a Sensory Phenomenon: Discovering the Senses on the Las Vegas Strip
Chapter 6 The Landscape of Power: Imagineering Consumer Behavior at China's Theme Parks
Chapter 7 Theming Mythical Africa at The Lost City
Chapter 8 Leisure Space: Thematic Style and Cultural Exclusion in Casablanca
Chapter 9 Above Us Only Sky: Themes, Simulations, and Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Chapter 10 Love Hotels: Sex and the Rhetoric of Themed Spaces
Chapter 11 How the Theme Park Gets Its Power: Lived Theming, Social Control, and the Themed Worker Self
Chapter 12 Behind-the-Scenes Space: Promoting Production in a Landscape of Consumption
Chapter 13 The Experience of a Lifestyle
Chapter 14 Themed Environments and Virtual Spaces: Video Games, Violent Play, and Digital Enemies
Chapter 15 A Politics of Reverence and Irreverence: Social Discourse on Theming Controversies