The Island on an Island

Cultural History of Costa Smeralda

Francesco Buscemi

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Hardback

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English

Common Ground Research Networks
12 February 2025

European history; Media studies; Eco-tourist guides

Can we recreate a holiday experience from the 1960s or 1990s in a world that changes so rapidly? This book argues that tourism is not merely a break from daily life but an ever-evolving current, an integral part of our culture and society that never remains fixed.

The Island on an Island: History, Media Construction and Uncertain Future of Costa Smeralda examines how northeast Sardinia-one of the most stunning areas in the world-became an artificial paradise, continually adapting to new scenarios in order to present tourists with the latest version of paradise they desire. The media system has played a pivotal role, actively shaping this construction; since the 1990s, media itself has become the very substance of what is communicated.

This process perfectly illustrates Jean Baudrillard's insight that the media create maps of reality which overlap the real territory, to the point where people no longer perceive actual reality but only its mediated versions. Over time, many layers-both literal and figurative-have been added to Costa Smeralda, obscuring the original land, which peasants and shepherds once sold cheaply to wealthy entrepreneurs. In tandem, media and tourism have always created the ideal environment for whoever happened to be in power.

Now that this trend is slowly coming to an end, no one knows which destination will become the next paradise. It is clear, however, that emerging forms of cultural, experiential, and sustainable tourism have little in common with today's Costa Smeralda-suggesting that its current model is in need of adjustment.

By: Francesco Buscemi
Imprint: Common Ground Research Networks
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 531g
ISBN: 9781966214007
ISBN 10: 1966214006
Pages: 186
Publication Date: 12 February 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Francesco Buscemi teaches media studies at the Catholic University of Milan. He pursued a PhD at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, on the cultural construction of food on TV. Francesco taught media at the universities of Stirling and Bournemouth, and media and tourism at IUAV University of Venice and Insubria University, Como. He won the Santander Research Grant Fund for a research on Nazi propaganda and meat. He has been a TV writer, storyteller and journalist since the 1990s and his most recent books are From Body Fuel to Universal Poison: Cultural History of Meat, 1900-the present (Springer, 2018), and Pasta, Pizza and Propaganda: Political History of Italian Food TV (Intellect).