Interpreting and Representing Dark Tourism

The Titanic was named the ‘unsinkable’ ship. However, it sank on its maiden voyage making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. The construction of the ship began in Belfast, Northern Ireland on March 31^st 1909. After nearly three years of construction and testing, it set sail from Southampton, England on April 2^nd 1912. However, the victorious ship had reached the end of its journey in the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the United States of America, when it hit an iceberg on April 14^th 1912 and eventually sunk on the 15^th (http://history1900s.about.com).

 

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 has been selected by many researchers as the initial starting point for dark tourism (Foley and Lennon 2000:8).

 

One of the main reasons why the Titanic will always be remembered is because the enormous ship was branded as ‘unsinkable’ and the problem was that it did just that. It sank. Another portrayal as to why the Titanic will always be remembered is for the film that was made to represent what happened over one hundred years ago. Although the story is a fictional account of what happened, it sends out an emotional message of the tragedy that occurred. With having two famous and very talented actors playing the roles of the main characters from the story, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, they show the story of how two different people from two different working classes find love that is short lived through the accident that happened on board the ship. This film is shown on televisions many times throughout the year, and this gives watchers and historians the chance to remember the encounter that happened in the Atlantic Ocean of what was made to be a voyage to be remembered, however, many years from then, it is remembered for all the wrong reasons (www.imdb.com).

 

Voyages take place from New York and Boston in the United States which recreate an experience of the last journey that the Titanic took. The interpretation being that there is identical music, meals and entertainment on board the ship, and the destination for this journey was the site of the wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean (Foley and Lennon 2000:165). These journeys could be considered as kitsch as guests are paying to experience what happened on the ‘unsinkable’ ship, and is in a way, making the whole Titanic experience more cheap and not respecting the lives that were taken on this grave accident.

 

In this day and age, tourists, researchers and the general public can visit the museum located in Belfast Northern Ireland, which is the birth place of the Titanic. Here you can explore the building and learn about the Titanic Belfast experience, have a discovery tour, learn about artefacts from the Titanic and there are other things to do and experience in the Titanic Quarter (www.titanicbelfast.com). Nowadays the Titanic is not talked about as much as it used to be as it happened a long time. Realistically the only times that it is talked about is if the film is played on television or if something is discovered from the location.