Orientalist imaginaries of travels in Kashmir: Western representations of the place and people

Moving beyond discussions in tourism literature on authenticity and ethnographic self, this article regenerates the importance of studying tourism imaginaries through the prism of Orientalism. Following Foucault's notion of discourse and drawing from the earliest European travelogues written on Kashmir, this article examines how and what images about Kashmir and its people have arisen historically alongside the narratives about its culture. The article examines the dynamic of Orientalist discourse, its epistemological control and consequent ‘tourismification’, and the impact on native subjectivities in Kashmir.