Introduction: Transnational and Transregional Histories of Urban Popular Culture in Europe

Abstract

The introduction presents recent developments in research on urban popular culture in Europe from the 1870s to the 1930s. Specifically, it outlines how the transnational turn in urban and cultural history has helped re-position the well-explored Western and Central European metropolises, and their involvement in transatlantic exchanges, in regard to circulations and mobilities in other urban centers. Building on newer studies on inter-urban networks, cultural transfers, and transregional connections, the volume proposes to advance the study of European popular culture by looking at a broader range of Europe's cities and regions to better understand what role actors and institutions in Northern, East-Central, and Southern Europe played in its development. After providing an overview of the methods and perspectives that inform the different chapters, the introduction outlines the overall guiding questions and approach of the volume, which center around the agents who imported new cultural offers, the specific cross-border relations that they built, and the wider societal responses to these arrivals. The last parts introduce the individual contributions, which in the first section focus on mobilities, networks, and transfers, while in the second emphasize social impacts, the role of regulations, and nation-building processes in the development of popular culture in a variety of urban and regional constellations.