Research Blog #7: Theoretical Frame

    The theoretical frame for my paper is the four aspects of curiosity as used by Emily D. Edwards in her article, Morbid Curiosity, Popular Media, and Thanatourism. These aspects can be broken up into two groups: what kind of curiosity is being experienced, normal or morbid curiosity, and how it is manifesting, perceptual and epistemic. Normal Curiosity is the natural and intentional desire to seek out new knowledge and experiences, while Morbid Curiosity is an abnormally strong desire for violent and gruesome knowledge and experiences that are irrelevant to one’s own life. Perceptual Curiosity is the fascination around one’s own environment as well as the desire to experience things firsthand, while Epistemic Curiosity is the fascination around knowledge one can’t learn directly through their experiences or sensing one’s environment.

    I'm using this as a base point for what motivates people to do paranormal tourism, as well as a motivating factor for the further steps of paranormal tourism from both a consumer standpoint and from the locations' view.

    The aforementioned article, Morbid Curiosity, Popular Media, and Thanatourism, is the basis for my frame. I already discussed this article in an earlier literature review, but to summarize: she talks about how the four aspects of curiosity work together to generate interest in the paranormal, and how curiosity interacts with the media and our personal lives to further this interest.

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