Unsettling Heimat and the Touristic Ideal: Tropes of the Uncanny in Lois Hechenblaikner's Anti-Heimat Photography

Abstract

Abstract:The pre-formatted surface of a Heimat idyll has long been an important site of criticism in Austrian culture. Expanding this critique within the Anti-Heimat genre, this article focuses on three photo series by Lois Hechenblaikner to argue that the uncanny represents a significant aspect in contemporary visual culture by subverting the strong visuality of the Heimat ideal as it is promoted in mass tourism. Dissecting Heimat as a commercial product, Hechenblaikner explores the dark sides of alpine tourism and mass consumerism and uses the uncanny as a central trope in unmasking the destructive elements of Heimat in the contemporary tourist industry.