Title: In search of the exile past: pilgrims and visitors to the island of Ikaria and their bearing on the historical past

Authors: Elena Mamoulaki

Addresses: Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Rd, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

Abstract: This study focuses on two different categories of visitors interested in the history of political exile as it came to inform the social landscape of the Aegean island of Ikaria during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). One current consists of the children and grandchildren of former exiles who travel to Ikaria in an attempt to retrace their family history; the other category is made up of a more recent kind of new-age traveller drawn to the liberal lifestyle and communal way of life associated with Ikaria. These differences in motivations guiding the influx of visitors to Ikaria leave their imprints on the relationships formed between locals and visitors, often yielding a striking contrast between locals' typical reactions to each respective group.

Keywords: social memory; secular pilgrimage; political exile; tourist motivation; social interaction; alternative tourism; Ikaria; Greek Civil War; Greece; family history; new-age travellers; liberal lifestyle; communal way of life.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTA.2016.081773

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, 2016 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.204 - 220

Received: 11 Mar 2016
Accepted: 20 Sep 2016
Published online: 24 Jan 2017 *

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