'AUTHENTICITY' AND POST-MODERN UNDERSTANDING OF TOURIST(IC) EXPERIENCE (O 'autentycznosci' i ponowoczesnym rozumieniu doswiadczenia turystycznego)

The paper offers an analysis of the contemporary touristic (in the sense of MacCannel, 1976) experience based on the accounts of South African travels published in the Polish press in the years 2000-2006. Considerations following thorough readings of travel accounts and the accompanying photographs complement the theoretical attempt to explain the authenticity of touristic experience made by MacCannel in his work viewed as a classic today. Since the solutions proposed by the American scholar are not sufficient, the argument is conducted here along the lines of the post-modern thinkers like Slavoj Zizek whose findings enable us to elucidate the contemporary touristic habitus to a more satisfactory level.