"This must be the place": Events, existential authenticity, and narratives of home at Burning Man

This dissertation explores the relationship between narratives of home in a tourism event space – Burning Man – and the meanings derived from that event for participants. Using a Sartrean existential authenticity framework, ethnography, and life story interviews, this work explores how each participant uses the event space in unique embedded ways to further their pursuit of existential authenticity. Narratives of home reflect feelings of familiarity, safety, and belonging and event spaces which facilitate these feelings are more likely to elicit these narratives. Narratives of home change and evolve over time, both in response to the participant’s level of engagement without the event community and to other factors affecting their life outside the event. Finally, evidence on the role of top-down narratives in such affective experiences is explored, urging caution for event planners and coordinators.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Recreation, Sport, and Tourism

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Brooks, Caitlin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Santos, Carla
• Moodie, Ellen
• Chalip, Laurence
• Stewart, William

• Burning Man
• festival
• event
• existentialism
• home
• tourism

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Caitlin Brooks

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115587

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F115587