Abstract
A Tour through Israel (1950-1951) is one of a series of eight photobooks,
known as the Encyclopedia of Israel in Images, produced between 1950 and
1952 by a private publisher with state support. It is the only volume in the
collection to present itself as a tourist guide book designed to «[…] serve
as a guide and an inspiration to tourists and sightseers […] set[ting] out
to portray the principal sights of Israel, in their generally characteristic aspects as well as in their specific beauty» (A Tour through Israel, 1950-1951: 7).
As it sets off to preserve memory by offering «Pleasure and thought, memories and hopes for the future» (ibid.), it actively contributes to producing
this memory. The purpose of this study is to explore the way in which this
photobook combines the tasks of a guidebook which is to provide practical information to the tourist who wishes to discover the topography and
History of Israel, and the functions of the Encyclopedia, closer to propaganda, as it sets off to construct a positive image of the Zionist enterprise. A
multimodal reading of the images (photos, maps and symbols), the text
(prefaces and legends), and the general layout of the volume and its recurrent rhetorical formulae shows that this album reflects in fact current
trends in guidebooks to Israel of the period following the foundation of
the State, where not only is practical information given, but also the guides
seem to participate in the fabrication of a touristic image magnifying the
importance of the Jewish foundation and development of the State.
known as the Encyclopedia of Israel in Images, produced between 1950 and
1952 by a private publisher with state support. It is the only volume in the
collection to present itself as a tourist guide book designed to «[…] serve
as a guide and an inspiration to tourists and sightseers […] set[ting] out
to portray the principal sights of Israel, in their generally characteristic aspects as well as in their specific beauty» (A Tour through Israel, 1950-1951: 7).
As it sets off to preserve memory by offering «Pleasure and thought, memories and hopes for the future» (ibid.), it actively contributes to producing
this memory. The purpose of this study is to explore the way in which this
photobook combines the tasks of a guidebook which is to provide practical information to the tourist who wishes to discover the topography and
History of Israel, and the functions of the Encyclopedia, closer to propaganda, as it sets off to construct a positive image of the Zionist enterprise. A
multimodal reading of the images (photos, maps and symbols), the text
(prefaces and legends), and the general layout of the volume and its recurrent rhetorical formulae shows that this album reflects in fact current
trends in guidebooks to Israel of the period following the foundation of
the State, where not only is practical information given, but also the guides
seem to participate in the fabrication of a touristic image magnifying the
importance of the Jewish foundation and development of the State.
| Translated title of the contribution | The Photobook As A Tourist Guide :: The Case of A Tour through Israel (1950-1951) |
|---|---|
| Original language | French |
| Title of host publication | Le guide touristique: |
| Subtitle of host publication | lieu de rencontre entre lexique et images du patrimoine culturel |
| Editors | Rachele Raus, Gloria Cappelli, Carolina Flinz |
| Publisher | Firenze University Press |
| Pages | 157-211 |
| Number of pages | 54 |
| Volume | 2 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-88-6453-514-2 |
| State | Published - 2017 |
Keywords
- Guide books, travel guide books, imaginary, photobook, propaganda, collective memory