Title: Context in tourist encounters and the double meaning of the word 'toris' in Sumba, Indonesia

Authors: Adriana Kábová

Addresses: Faculty of Humanities, Department of General Anthropology, Charles University in Prague, U Kříže 8, 158 00, Praha 5 – Jinonice, Czech Republic

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to describe a communication mismatch that is enacted in encounters between tourists and inhabitants of the island Sumba in Eastern Indonesia. Special attention will be paid to the role of mental models based on knowledge of rumours about white headhunters. Due to a language barrier that frequently comes between tourists and locals, context comes to the fore in these interaction episodes. This context will be explored using the schema of mental models resulting from the shared knowledge of rumours.

Keywords: tourism industry; discourse; context; imaginary; Sumba; Indonesia; tourist encounters; rumours; penyamun; surfing; mental models; schema; acqui; toris; language barriers; shared knowledge; information sharing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTA.2015.071937

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, 2015 Vol.4 No.3, pp.269 - 285

Received: 04 Mar 2014
Accepted: 26 Oct 2014
Published online: 24 Sep 2015 *

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