Shades of Dark Tourism. Alcatraz and Robben Island

Abstract

Former sites of punishment and incarceration have become a popular tourist experience as defunct prisons are converted into museums or heritage sites. Among the most prominent are Alcatraz in the United States, and Robben Island in South Africa. While some theorists might categorize such practices as "dark tourism," this paper argues for an analysis that accounts for the multiple shades of penal history marketing and interpretation. Drawing on policy documents, onsite observations, tourist surveys, and interviews with museum staff, the paper explores how multi-hued forms of interpretation have been produced, not only through shifting priorities of memory managers, but also the expectations of tourists and the agendas of external interest groups.