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The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism pp 763–786Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Explorations in Banality: Prison Tourism at the Old Melbourne Gaol

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

If, as Mercer (: 1) argues, “feeling is believing,” then the emotional states and experiences engendered by heritage and heritage tourism will significantly influence the meanings, values and messages individuals will construct or have reinforced as they engage with heritage places. There is now an extensive literature that argues emotions are central not only to cognition but also equally importantly to the social and political judgements individuals make (Marcus; Marcus et al.; Sayer; Wetherell. Indifference is an emotional state, sometimes involving an active choice of refusing to exercise empathy and compassion, and sometimes denoting blithe, but socially meaningful, lack of awareness.

I’m glad I wasn’t born then. It was a very cruel time…um…I don’t know, that’s about it.

OMG002: female, 45–54, accountant, Anglo-Australian

I don’t feel a personal connection here at all. Like I don’t walk in here and feel any more Australian.

OMG091: female, 18–21, student, Australian

Throughout this chapter, interview quotes are referenced by field number and basic demographic information: “OMG” refers to the Old Melbourne Gaol and the number following is the sequential field number given to the interview. The ethnicity and occupation are self-defined by the interviewee. In the quoted passages, the use of … refers to a pause by the speaker, while […] refers to the excision of text to enhance clarity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Prior to being asked the open-ended questions, visitors were asked to choose a reason for visiting the site. The choices varied slightly for each museum or site in the study, but the standard options were: “recreation,” “education,” “taking the children” (always first, second third on the list), and were followed at this site by “to find out about Australia’s history”; “experience what life behind bars was like in the nineteenth century”; “to explore what it means to be Australian,” and “other.”

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT,, Australia

    Laurajane Smith

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  1. Laurajane Smith
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Correspondence to Laurajane Smith .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education and Arts, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Australia

    Jacqueline Z. Wilson

  2. Department of Criminology, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Sarah Hodgkinson

  3. Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Justin Piché

  4. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Kevin Walby

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Smith, L. (2017). Explorations in Banality: Prison Tourism at the Old Melbourne Gaol. In: Wilson, J., Hodgkinson, S., Piché, J., Walby, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56135-0_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56135-0_36

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