Jacques Derrida's philosophy of hospitality

In the latest of our occasional series on theorists of hospitality, Kevin O'Gorman explores how the controversial philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) contributes to our understanding of hospitality. Derrida's meditation on the contradictions within the language of hospitality are identified, along with his attempts to illuminate a variety of contemporary hospitality scenarios

Modern hospitality : medieval foundations

This paper reports on continuing doctoral research and specifically focuses on the development and regulation of hospitality in the Western European monasteries, from the beginning of the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance. It builds on previous research, into the Greco-Roman worlds, which had identified five key dimensions of hospitality. The establishment and development of the western monastic hospitality tradition is explored together with the changing significance of the monasteries in Western European development, and the adsorption of the principles of monastic hospitality into the secular world. Through the translation, modernisation and secularisation of monastic hospitality this paper demonstrates its relevance for the hospitality and tourism industries of today. A set of principals of hospitality provision and management have been derived which are instantly recognisable to modern hospitality managers, despite their mediaeval origins

Review of 'Philosophical Issues in Tourism: Aspects of Tourism' By J. Tribe (Ed) Channel View Publications, Bristol (2009)

The eleventh century philosopher and Archbishop of Canterbury St Anselm wrote, 'I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand' (Anselm Proslogion 154-5). Anselm was asserting that, from a philosophical stance, nothing is achieved or ascertained by merely speculating from the sidelines; a certain level of committed thought and involvement is necessary. The editor and authors of this book have written an enlightening, refreshing text which exhibits that commitment to which St Anselm refers. The text does not speculate from the sidelines, but rather the authors, no doubt due to the clear direction of the editor, aim to immerse themselves in the considerable gap in understanding some of the philosophical issues that underpin contemporary comprehension of tourism

Monastic hospitality: the enduring legacy

This paper summarises the origins of western monastic hospitality, illustrates how it influences modern civic, commercial and domestic practices and reports on an empirical investigation into contemporary monastic hospitality. Research into the phenomenon of hospitality continues to broaden through an ever-increasing dialogue and alignment with a greater number of academic disciplines. This paper reports on an investigation into the hospitality offered by Benedictine monasteries and demonstrates how an enhanced understanding of hospitality can be achieved through synergy between social anthropology, philosophy and practical theology. All monastic hospitality takes its direction from St Benedict's Rule (530 AD); this foundational document became the basis of all western European religious hospitality. During the Middle Ages the western monasteries (as well as being the custodians of civilisation, knowledge and learning) had provided detailed and formalised rules for religious hospitality, the care of the sick and the poor, and responsibilities for refugees. The Protestant Reformation (c 1540) was to have a transforming affect on religious hospitality. Hospitable activities became separated from their Christian ties as the state increasingly took over more responsibility for them, although they adopted the principles of hospitality that had already been established within the monastic tradition and are still evident in civic, commercial and domestic hospitality. The empirical information on contemporary monastic hospitality presented in this paper was gathered by living in the monastic cloister with the monks themselves, sharing their day, their life, and their work. During the research it became clear that within the environment of the monastic community hospitality provision is extremely complex; there was a hierarchy of guests within the monastery and differing levels of hospitality provision. The research highlighted the use and division of space for the monks and their guests, types of accommodation, inclusion and exclusion, hospitality rules and rituals and the dichotomy between the social and commercial manifestation of hospitality within the monastery. The paper concludes by observing that the prima-facie purpose of a monastery is not to offer hospitality, it is to house the monks in a community environment so that they can dedicate their lives and live their vocation to the service of God. The Rule is clearly of the utmost importance to the running of the monasteries, however an element of change has been necessary to ensure the continuing survival of the monastery and its hospitality provision. Within the monastic community hospitality and the ritual reception of guests and the provision of hospitality play an important role by being both the bridge and the barrier between the monastic and secular worlds

Classical and modern hospitality : the Benedictine case

The development of the anthropology of tourism is anchored in the anthropology of hospitality. Interdisciplinary research further highlights just closely these are related to other disciplines; in this case history and theology. Benefits are also to be gained from multidisciplinary analysis of hospitality and tourism. When investigating contemporary hospitality sometimes there is the opportunity contextualise the investigation in the past in order to more fully understand the present; this opportunity to explore the historical dimension is often ignored, overlooked or misunderstood by some hospitality researchers resulting in flawed rhetoric, and work with little or no empirical research. However, recent advances in hospitality research have included the development of the hospitality conceptual lens (Lashley et al. 2007) that offers a potential framework for organising and presenting data. It has also provided the basis for the development of the dynamic Host-Guest Transaction Model, which allows the hospitality transaction between the host and the guest to be illustrated and explored. More importantly the model also assists with the understanding of the underpinning complexity within hospitality relationships. An overview of the approaches to investigating biblical hospitality highlight the problems associated with this type of research. The example of monastic hospitality shows that contemporary monastic hospitality has its foundations in much earlier practices and anthropological accounts. This is partly achieved by tracing hospitality back to one of its classical roots: the Judeo-Christian Bible. This chapter then is not about the evolution of commercial hospitality; it focuses on the hospitality phenomenon as it subsists within the monastic environment

The legacy of monastic hospitality : 1 the rule of Benedict and rise of western monastic hospitality

In the first of two articles about the founding father of hospitality, Kevin O'Gorman looks at St Benedict's rule and its context of in the monastic orders. Contemporary hospitality operators will find themselves in a very familiar world

Iranian hospitality: a hidden treasure

After making many field trips to the Islamic Republic of Iran Kevin O'Gorman reflects on the origins of Islamic and Iranian hospitality before highlighting some of the operational complexities of running the one of the highest hotels in the world