Touristification and cultural heritage in the Pampas. New ruralities and idyllic stories of rural areas in the province of Buenos Aires (Argentina)

CECILIA PÉREZ WINTER; PERLA ZUSMAN

Rural Tourism: an international perspective

Cambridge Publishing

Año: 2014; p. 303 - 319

Since the end of the 1990?s the term new ruralities is used among Argentine academics to refer to transformations in the countryside and to highlight the extension of globalization in rural areas. The presence of transnational actors and technologies and the cultivation of commodities (i.e. soybean) express this kind of transformation. Yet other scholars emphasize the development of new productive activities linked with residential, heritage and touristic uses. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the relationship between cultural heritage and touristification processes, and the mercantilization of certain versions of the rural past in the Buenos Aires province. Domestic and foreign visitors consumed these versions of the rural past. On one hand, we observed that local actors, the National Commission of Museums, Monuments and Historic Places, some historians and architects are involved in the valorization of certain estancias (ranches) and rural towns as material expression of those narratives that focus on the work of some European migrants in the incorporation of rural areas into ?civilization? or in the definition of the agricultural or livestock profile of these areas. On the other hand, we described how private entrepreneurs are not only involved in the organization of the gaucho?s route but they promote polo?s practice as an exclusive sport activity as well. In both cases gaucho?s figure is put on scene together with those narratives that have made him an iconic representation of Argentina?s rural tradition. National and provincial touristic policies also take an active part in the construction of tourism amenities and in the recreation of those narratives. In summary, we consider that through heritage and touristification processes, idyllic visions of the rural past are conformed. These visions set aside the history of native and black populations or the history of conflicts between landowners and rural laborers that are also part of the history of this area of the Argentina.