Abstract
This paper aims to investigate the touristic Amazon as a heterotopic place. The main objective is to highlight the cultural and natural values that can enhance forest tourism, polarized between a paradisiacal and infernal Amazon. Methodologically, it is based on categorial content analysis of travel texts in the Amazon rainforest, mostly associated with scientific and discovery expeditions, between the 16th and 21st centuries. The analysis shows that travels tend to start with wonder facing the unknown Amazon. Still, the physical contact with the ‘real’ Amazon leads to the deconstruction of myths and utopias and the (re)encounter of the heterotopic Amazon – a ‘real’ but ‘other’ place. The ‘loss’ of the original idyll leads to the end of a positive heterotopia through intrinsic and extrinsic forces.
Keywords
Amazonia; Heterotopia; Forest Tourism; Culture; Paradise