Territorial-synecdoche

Synecdoche is a rhetorical figure where an element (the part) represents the whole or vice versa. It is quite frequent in everyday speech and literary language without the speakers being aware of it; for example, Germany won 7-1 in the final against Brazil, where the part (the soccer teams) stands for the whole (the countries). Another example would be someone who expresses being tired of the concrete and wanting to go to the country for the weekend; in this case, the part (the concrete) represents the whole (the city). So, synecdoche is a linguistic resource and a way for human beings to simplify complex reality.

This concept can migrate to the relationship with space. In this case, the synecdoche appears when an element represents the whole territory on a local, regional or national level. When a component of territory (e.g., a building, a tradition or a dish) represents the whole territory, the concept of space-based synecdoche emerges. In tourism, this synecdochic process is clearly observed. It occurs by reproducing idealised and stereotyped travel destination images that generate territorial-synecdoches. This means that spatial components gain so much force in the collective imagination as representatives of specific places that the territories are often reduced to a single element. The Roman Colosseum (the part) represents Rome, which in turn represents Italy. The same goes for the example of Machu Picchu and Peru and/or the Andean culture. Undoubtedly, the Eiffel Tower is a synecdoche of Paris and France. In these cases, the part/whole association derives from the imaginary and tourist advertising where these icons repeat ad nauseam.

That occurs because images have great power in modern society. Although in contemporary society, the visual prevails over the other senses, especially in the context of intense visual consumption through digital media (Alvarado-Sizzo, 2021), there are different kinds of images, for example, those formed through smells, sounds, or discursive ones as in literature or radio (Zamora, 2007). So, a tourist destination exists in the mind of the potential traveller before the trip occurs (Alvarado-Sizzo, 2021). That image is formed by spatial representations that reach individuals through various media: photographs, painting, music, literature, cinema, and social media networks. These inputs build a perception of what it is like, what to see and what to do in the tourist place. From that imaginary point of view, the subject decides if it is interesting to visit that destination and if they do, they establish the itinerary of the worthwhile sightseeing spots in situ.

Through myriads of representations, certain features become territorial-synecdoches. Thus, spatial representations induce behaviours and changes in destination territories through semiotic processes that transform territorial elements into tourist signs. This process explains that when seeing an image of the archaeological zone of Machu Picchu, it is immediately associated with travel, exoticism, history, adventure, pre-Hispanic culture, authenticity and a series of values built around that place.

Although to a lesser extent than in visual formats, it is also possible to speak of the formation of territorial-synecdoches from literary works. To this end, it is vital to take up the concept of cultural representation of landscape, in which the landscape or territory is a cultural work with artistic connotations (Reyes, 2022). Thus, descriptions of landscapes in literary works can generate images in readers and awaken their interest in physically knowing the place described in the narrative. Although the focus of the literary work can be on a country or region (e.g., José Saramago's Journey to Portugal), there can also be a synecdochic process when the interest focuses on a single element, such as Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra and the tourist attraction of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, or the sudden fame of the Louvre's inverted pyramid in Paris after its representation in Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code. In this sense, we can also count the famous windmills in Consuegra (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) because of their association with Don Quixote de la Mancha. Such interest in visiting places linked to a literary work, an author or a literary event has been defined as literary tourism (Quinteiro & Baleiro, 2019; Capecchi, 2023). In that sense, the interest in an author can also create a territorial-synecdoche when the interest is focused only on his/her house, museum, or sculpture, reducing the whole complex of his/her life work to a single element.

If, on the one hand, the territorial-synecdoche can transform the local into the universal by simplifying the knowledge of the sites to a few elements, thereby facilitating the dissemination of tourist destinations, on the other hand, there is the risk of synecdoche processes in the territories concentrating on the attractive components and hiding the daily problems of the local population, for example. Although the charm of tourism is to sell idealised places, it is necessary to think of strategies that expand the benefits of tourism to the entire territory and not only to synecdochical elements.

In this regard, a research line could be the study of the increase of holiday accommodation based on a new (synecdochic) traction resource through a literary work (or an author) (whether a new one or one that has been rediscovered or revalued). For example, this could happen in Porto (Portugal), where there is great interest in Lello bookstore, which has been claimed to be an inspiration for Harry Potter's saga (although the author J.K Rowling has denied that) and now receives thousands of visitors every day and that increase has required more services for tourists, including accommodation. Also, the capacity of these spaces to absorb the massification of this economic activity without disturbing the local life due to over-tourism could be discussed. Finally, territorial-synecdoche related to literary tourism could be used to generate literary itineraries, offering cultural content to visitors and adding value to the literary work and the writers’ legacy.

How to cite this entry: Alvarado-Sizzo, I. (2025). Territorial-synecdoche. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59