Death on the Nile

literature and cinema as an active teaching methodology in Tourism

Abstract

Agatha Christie is considered the most influential novelist of the 20th century, having established her name in world detective literature with more than 80 publications between 1920 and 1975. Internationally, her books have been the subject of research in various fields. The aim of this article is to discuss the applicability of Death on the Nile (book and movie) in the curriculum of an undergraduate tourism course. The intended approach falls within the scope of active methodologies, understood here as an option both for teaching and learning and for encouraging reading and films. Using the Close Reading method and the film analysis model by Vanoye & Goliot-Lété (2012), the disciplinary contents most suitable for application were identified and related: Introduction to the Study of Tourism as well as Transportation Systems and Tourism. The results showed that Death on the Nile (1937) can be applied in an innovative way to contextualize what has been called the Transition Period of Tourism (until 1939). It is concluded that literature and film serve as effective alternatives to standard lectures, representing a practical application of active methodologies, and that this research can be continued, replicated and deepened by using other works by Agatha Christie that highlight trips abroad.