The Transgressive Approach to the Dark Tourism Experience:
Stalkerism in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
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Institute of Intercultural Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.
Submission date: 2021-02-10
Acceptance date: 2021-11-08
Publication date: 2022-09-19
Polish Sociological Review 2022;219(3)
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The aim of this article is to present the phenomenon of stalkerism (a kind of illegal tourism) in the
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The article investigates the specificity of the stalker experience through the concept
of transgression (Kozielecki 2007). The article broadens the perspective on the tourism experience by using
a psychological concept that has not so far been widely used in tourism studies, even though it refers to classic
ideas (liminality, rites of passage, transformation). The genesis and specificity of the phenomenon of stalkerism
in the context of the development of organized tourism in the Zone are presented. Then the transgressions of
stalkers during exploration of the Zone are described. Lastly, the article shows how stalkerism contributes to the
transformation of tourism and the development of the Zone’s heritage.
FUNDING
Project financed by the National Science Centre, Poland. Grant no. 2016/23/D/HS3/01960.