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In their 2006 article "Caves in Belgium," Diekmann, et al. select European caves as the tourist sites of choice for their research on the standardisation of presentation and interpretation because "caves were the first sites that were opened to visitors with an economic purpose, charging an entrance fee" (273). Caves have a long history of tourist interest. As Gill Ediger, former Texas Speleological Association president, says, "the reason cavers go caving differ with each caver: blatant curiosity, a sense of adventure, scientific study, and adrenaline rush" (Pittman 1999). In a critique of leisure identities produced by American advertisement of the "Great Outdoors," Martin describes leisure activities--under which tourism falls--on the whole as "imbued with specific and widely-shared expectations about the types of people who engage in them" such that "identity is viewed as an individualized interpretation or enactment of those expectations" (2004, 516). He goes on to suggest that "individuals can modify or personalize a leisure identity, to some extent, but they must do so within a bounded framework to be considered authentic and to guarantee acceptance by other leisure participants" (ibid). In general, outdoor/wilderness identities can, according to Martin, be categorized by two basic archetypes: the environmental conservationalist and the rugged frontier individualist (517). However, the Cave Directory, published by the National Caves Association, broadens the preferred subject identity to include the artistic tourist as well: "The natural beauty and scientific wonder of caves continue to attract millions of visitors across the nation every year. Unlike man-made amusements, their timeless allure appeals to all."
Even a cursory reading of a collection of advertising claims clipped from various cave tour information pamphlets sketches in the outlines of an identity profile:
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In her discussion of utilizing discourse analysis to unveil the exercise of power by certain institutions, Rose suggests that the practices of galleries and museums--and arguably, caves--produce "the images and objects in their possession in particular ways" and also "produce a certain sort of visitor. This visitor is perhaps above all constituted as an 'eye': someone who sees, and, through seeing, understands in specific ways" (2007, 190-191).
A comparative review of the institutionalized discursives, technological apparatuses and subjectivities motivated by the tourism practices of two premiere show caves, Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico) and the Caverns of Sonora (Texas) reveals these three primary subjectivities--the aesthetically inclined artist, the environmentally conservative scientist, and the rugged frontier explorer--as well as exemplifying how resistances are commercialized to promulgate what Henberg calls "valued currency in the cultural capital of U.S. society" (Martin 2004, 517).
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