Academy Building

As stated before in the blog on the Noorderplantsoen, story-telling is an important part of touristic experiences. Not only the fact that it contributes to the construction of someones social identity makes research of narratives interesting, also the question how the telling of a story changes within different settings provides enough research material.[1] The Academy Building is an important place for me, as a student. Most of my lectures are held here as well as important ceremonial occasions. It is not a tourist place in the sense that you can visit it (while its open for everyone I have not seen any tourists walking around in the building), but the sight is very determining for Groningen as a city.

If I would pretend I am a tourist who enters the building, I would encounter a dignified interior with high stairs and stained glass windows. This stately look might be something that impresses me and will lead to an incentive to tell stories about it. As stated in the article (see footnote), stories of tourist experiences should have an ‘entertainment value’ (which is less the case when telling stories about daily-life). The story about the Academy Building might thus be exaggerated, for example, by saying that the interior would be similar to the interior of a Royal Palace!

- Tessa

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[1]Scott McCabe & Clare Foster, "The Role and Function of Narrative

in Tourist Interaction", Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change 4 (2006): 194-215, accessed January 22, http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/jtcc071.0