What ’ s lit got to do with it ? Deconstructing the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site
ciated with books and their authors remains incredibly popular even in the age of instantaneous entertainment streaming . Herbert ( 81 ) illustrated the links between visitors ’ choice to visit three literary and artistic sites in France . Although data suggested patrons appreciated ties to famous artists , authors , and their works , there was little indication these tourists were dedicated fans who sought out a site specifically to honor the memorialized creator . Instead , visitors identified the literary and artistic links as traits setting the sites apart from neighboring heritage sites , prompting a visit . In a later survey-based study , Herbert ( 330 ) found tourists to two literary sites in the UK reported a number of reasons for their visit , but many cited literary interest as a motivating factor . Herbert also found most visitors had a good general awareness of the related authors and their works but concluded that overall “ literary places prove to be no different from the experience of other heritage places ” ( 329 ).
Research on other features of the literary tourism experience has also been conducted . Fawcett and Cormack ( 680 ) attempted to understand how the story of native author L . M . Montgomery was told across Prince Edward Island , Canada , by examining how authenticity was interpreted at sites dedicated to the Anne of Green Gables writer . Others have examined the long-term effect of literature encountered during childhood as fueling of a desire to travel to associated destinations later in life ( Iwashita 75 ), the growth of literary tourism in the nineteenth century ( Watson 2 ), and the iterations of Mark Twain in tourism in contemporary America ( Lowe 7 ).
Many studies , however , are predicated on the notion that visitors to sites associated with authors or their stories are readers who know the author or text ( s ) well enough to recognize a destination ’ s literary references ( see , for instance , Earl , 401 ). Westover ( 17 ) contends because visitors who have
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