Far Out
Countercultural Seekers and the Tourist Encounter in Nepal
Mark Liechty
- Westerners
- have
- long
- imagined
- the
- Himalayas
- as
- the
- world’s
- last
- untouched
- place
- and
- a
- repository
- of
- redemptive
- power
- and
- wisdom.
- Beatniks,
- hippie
- seekers,
- spiritual
- tourists,
- mountain
- climbers—diverse
- groups
- of
- people
- have
- traveled
- there
- over
- the
- years,
- searching
- for
- their
- own
- personal
- Shangri-La.
- In
- Far
- Out,
- Mark
- Liechty
- traces
- the
- Western
- fantasies
- that
- captured
- the
- imagination
- of
- tourists
- in
- the
- decades
- after
- World
- War
- II,
- asking
- how
- the
- idea
- of
- Nepal
- shaped
- the
- everyday
- cross-cultural
- interactions
- that
- it
- made
- possible.Emerging
- from
- centuries
- of
- political
- isolation
- but
- eager
- to
- engage
- the
- world,
- Nepalis
- struggled
- to
- make
- sense
- of
- the
- hordes
- of
- exotic,
- enthusiastic
- foreigners.
- They
- quickly
- embraced
- the
- phenomenon,
- however,
- and
- harnessed
- it
- to
- their
- own
- ends
- by
- building
- tourists’
- fantasies
- into
- their
- national
- image
- and
- crafting
- Nepal
- as
- a
- premier
- tourist
- destination.
- Liechty
- describes
- three
- distinct
- phases:
- the
- postwar
- era,
- when
- the
- country
- provided
- a
- Raj-like
- throwback
- experience
- for
- rich
- Americans;
- Nepal’s
- emergence
- as
- an
- exotic
- outpost
- of
- hippie
- counterculture
- in
- the
- 1960s;
- and
- its
- rebranding
- into
- a
- hip
- adventure
- destination,
- which
- began
- in
- the
- 1970s
- and
- continues
- today.
- He
- shows
- how
- Western
- projections
- of
- Nepal
- as
- an
- isolated
- place
- inspired
- creative
- enterprises
- and,
- paradoxically,
- allowed
- locals
- to
- participate
- in
- the
- global
- economy.
- Based
- on
- twenty-five
- years
- of
- research,
- Far
- Out
- blends
- ethnographic
- analysis,
- a
- lifelong
- passion
- for
- Nepal,
- and
- a
- touch
- of
- humor
- to
- produce
- the
- first
- comprehensive
- history
- of
- what
- tourists
- looked
- for—and
- found—on
- the
- road
- to Kathmandu.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
