In search of identities: 'Foreigners' in fin-de-siècle Belgian café-concerts

Abstract: This article reveals the substantial presence of all kinds of foreigners among the audiences in Belgian café-concerts and their position in ambitious urban and national politics in fin-desiècle Belgian cities. Although ignored by academics for decades, Belgian fin-de-siècle caféconcerts and their hedonistic atmosphere were highly influential, and even imitated, abroad. By combining quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of research fields, it is possible to comprehend the café-concert and its audiences as transgressive identities, challenging concepts of social space, as... Mehr ...