Discursive constructions of the plantation past within a travel guidebook

The purpose of the current study is to examine the discursive construction of former slave plantations within a Lonely Planet guidebook–Louisiana and the Deep South. This study interrogates the dynamics of representation by situating the analysis within collective memory. Generally the findings revealed a discursive schism between the counter memory embodied by the guidebook's focus and the dominant frames offered within the majority of the plantation descriptions. This narrativistic disparity is evidence of the mnemonic politics that characterize the interpretation and commemoration of the plantation past for the present. Although this inquiry is based on one source, it nonetheless sheds light on the pedagogical role enacted by guidebook producers in rearticulating contested histories vis-à-vis counter mnemonic practices. The article also engages the ubiquitous media generated discourse on post-racial America to highlight the need for further research on the politics of representation within contested sites of memory.