ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews contemporary research on the production of liminality, in the context of tourist narratives during encounters with Labadee’s timeless and static “private paradise,” as it catered to a collective and antiquated Caribbean gaze. Colonial exclusionism is examined, with respect to enclave resorts such as Labadee, Haiti through published tourist narratives and one-on-one interviews, which elucidate how hyper-reality produces “bubbles” of an ideal tropicality. Additionally, reciprocal and conflicted experiences at the periphery of such bubbles, where the production breaks down and back stage is revealed, are described. Finally, the chapter briefly examines how gentrification and the production of liminality impact the national identity of Haitians, as locals grapple with their acceptance of cruise ship tourism, and cope with the potential benefit of bubbles as containers of harmful elements.
