611.1
Quality Time and Enchanted Places. the Commodification of Sensory Experiences

Monday, 11 July 2016: 09:00
Location: Hörsaal 22 (Juridicum)
Oral Presentation
Kornelia HAHN, University of Salzburg, Austria
In this paper, I argue that sensory experiences which are (still) subject to the non rationalized interpretation of human bodies become a resource for commodification processes. With this argument I do not refer to the emotion industry but rather to the tourism and leisure industry. Drawing on analyses of qualitative data (textual and visual) from this field, I describe two contradictory logics of time-space relationship influencing the corporeal performance.  Eventually, I show that the contradiction is apparently dissolved in a new form of framing these situations: by highlighting quality time (as a short time with intensified experience options) and enchanted places (as a confined, but sensually enriched environment) within narrative scripts the demands of both, sensory experience seekers and commercial enterprises in late Capitalism, are met. Stressing the importance of narrative scripts for corporeal performances, I consider aspects of media cultures (remote communication and experiences) as theoretical approach to the Sociology of the body.