A contextual approach to work-oriented research in literary tourism

The relationship between literature and tourism in Turkey is a subject that has been examined with limitations. It is seen that the researches on the subject remain in an author-oriented framework. This research aims to develop an approach to be a source of work-oriented research in literary tourism. Istanbul has been chosen as a research region due to its historical importance in literature and book culture. A total of 75 books by Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Sait Faik Abasıyanık and Orhan Pamuk, who include Istanbul in all their works, constitute the data set of the research. After determining the dataset, a two-stage mining model is designed. In the first stage, a qualitative research method, content analysis, was employed to examine literary works and create a database under Place, Space, and Building categories. In the second stage, thematic maps were created for these categories. As a result of the evaluation of the findings, it was seen that there are three primary contexts in the use of a place in literary tourism through works: The geographical context allows the environmental elements of a region to be shown to tourists. The historical context focuses on places belonging to the region's past, making these places meaningful in terms of literary tourism. The spatial context highlights historical and monumental structures, places where daily life takes place through literature, and is the basis for determining walking routes. In the light of these three contexts, an exemplary tour route to Istanbul has been designed. With this contextual approach developed over the contents of the works, it is understood that literary tourism plans can be made for urban or rural areas. By investigating the cultural resources in the content of the works, it is seen that a cultural context can also be used in literary tourism.