O chamado da estrada: modalidades de conhecimento de si, do próximo e do distante entre mochileiros na China e no sudeste asiático

Abstract

Traveling to a foreign country is a common commodity in industrial societies. However, there are different ways to do it. To what extent a backpacker style of travel differs from traditional tourism? What are the emotions that drive the individual to choose this style of voyage? How to they attain the cultural otherness? In a field study with backpackers in China, I seek to identify relationships between "learning" situations that attempts to legitimize the discourse of what makes a "true backpacker". I investigate what they seek and what they claim to learn. Among the experiences they pursuit, I try to comprehend the means of sociability with other backpackers and residents of the visited country. Backpackers attempt for differentiation of other tourists and draw a non-linear life narrative, through collections of fragments, whose remembrance constitutes the memorable. I inquire what are these experiences and why, precisely, do they become memorable.