THE ATTRACTION OF THE "OTHER'S" CULTURE Among studies that contribute to understanding the attraction of culturally imbued indigenous crafts and art of "the other," Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg - Halton (1981:79), find that objects in people's lives define "who they are, who they have been, and who they wish to become." People may "see possessions as extensions of themselves or as a personal record of their memories and experi? ences" and they may serve "as instruments for discovering and articulating personal values" (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton 1981:84?85). Objects are valued for relationships and their meanings rather than material worth. (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton 1981:84). Belk (1988:145) argues that "possessions can . . . symbolically extend self. . . that we can be a different person than we would be without them." Possessing crafts may also allow capturing "the extended self of valued others," the makers of the craft (Belk 1988:149). As souvenirs, Gordon (1986:137) suggests that such objects are "a concrete reminder or tangible way of capturing or freezing a non- or extra-ordinary experience." People collect souvenirs as they "feel the need to bring things home with them from the sacred, extraordinary time or space, for home is equated with ordinary, mundane time and space" (Gordon 1986:136). "Souvenirs function as metonymic signs.. .an actual piece of the whole," and are "perceived as part of the history, essence, or experience of that location" (Gordon 1986:139). Handicrafts may be "perceived as products of exotic or different people" whether produced locally or from far away places (Gordon 1986:143). Littrel (1990:234-41) identifies five categories of tourist consumers who search for indigenous textile crafts: 1. "Shopping Oriented Tourists" find meaning in going to exotic places to purchase objects and in meeting the craftspeople from whom they purchased items. Crafts might hold symbolic significance as a "trophy" earned from meet? ing the challenge of travel;
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