Cultural scenes and atmospheres. Intersections, articulations, contextualisations
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- 1 The call stems from the ANR SCAENA project (https://scaena.hypotheses.org/), which focused on the i (...)
This call for papers proposes to bring together two fields of research that, until now, have largely existed independently of each other: the field of research on cultural scenes and that on ambiances and atmospheres.1 Their intersection – this is the hypothesis behind the proposal of this special issue – allows both fields of research to open up to promising lines of inquiry that have been little explored to date.
For the past twenty years, there has been a growing body of work seeking to explain the cultural effervescence, the dynamics of innovation or creativity that take shape in places, in territories (urban or otherwise), in public spaces based on the term “scene”, the “scene thinking” proposed by Woo et al. (2015). What is remarkable about approaches related to the notion of the “scene” is, first of all, their multidisciplinary nature. They are part of the “spatial turn” proposed by cultural studies perspectives (Guibert, 2012) and draw on research from disciplines as diverse as sociology, urban planning and architecture (Hubbard & Kitchin, 2004). What has long distinguished the approach by the scene is that the term itself was not recognised as a stabilised concept, but rather as a “concept tool” (Pagoni, 1997). Thus, for some researchers, entering a field from the scene approach would allow for an initial inquiry, before adding more specific elements, to better understand its specificities. Among the disciplines of artistic expression that immediately took up the term “scene”, popular music should be mentioned first (Guibert, 2016). In their book Music Scene, Bennett and Peterson (2004) mentioned two ways of conceiving a music scene in a limited area, the first referring to Goffmanian interactionism, to the dramaturgy of social interaction. The second favoured the analysis of connections and networks between artists within a territory. In an attempt to link communities of practice and shared physical spaces, New Zealand researcher Geoff Stahl (2004) brought together soft infrastructures (shared conventions) and hard infrastructures (institutions). A path is thus gradually being built between approaches that study scenes and their relationship to ambiances and atmospheres (Boivin, 2022, see also Silver & Clark, 2014).
For research on ambiances and atmospheres, this rapprochement also signifies an opening towards themes that are rarely addressed. In particular, French-language research, conducted mainly under the term “ambiances”, has focused largely on the role of architecture and the built environment in the emergence of ambiances (Augoyard, 1998). English- and German-language research has focused more on social and cultural life as a (co-)generator of atmospheres, for example by working on sporting events (Edensor, 2015), atmospheres in organisations (Julmi, 2017) or the presence of tourists for the atmosphere of a neighbourhood (Paiva & Sánchez, 2020). But, with a few exceptions (Cathus, 1998), it has not explicitly addressed ambiances and atmospheres in connection with cultural scenes understood as remarkable collective dynamics in the field of arts and culture. The intersection between research on cultural scenes and research on ambiances and atmospheres therefore signifies a renewal for the two fields of research that we wish to explore in this special issue.
Four lines of inquiry centred on the intersection between scenes and ambiances/atmospheres seem particularly interesting to us:
The role of ambiances and atmospheres in the dynamics of cultural scenes
Ambiances can be considered as one element among others (networks of actors, public policy narratives, media coverage, etc.) that contribute to the evolution of a scene. This hypothesis highlights the role of shared, situated experiences in the development of a scene, and invites us to question the corporeal and sensory dimension in the life of scenes. In this first line of inquiry, we are looking for contributions – preferably with an empirical dimension – that explore this hypothesis and show how ambiances and atmospheres can become forces that dynamise (or paralyse) a scene. Are atmospheres used and consciously created to reinforce the dynamics of a scene, or are they just an unintentional side effect of a social process? This first line of inquiry also raises the question of the interdependence between atmospheres, networks of actors and narratives in this dynamic. It also raises the question of understanding whether and how certain types of artistic or cultural activities or disciplines (music, graphic arts, publishing, image, digital, etc.) affect the impact of ambiances and atmospheres on the life of a scene.
Cultural scenes as producers of ambiance, atmosphere and urban transformation
The second line of inquiry focuses on the effects of cultural scenes on urban development. The dynamics of the presence of cultural scenes in urban spaces is considered here as a factor that contributes to the transformation of urban areas (Ambrosino et al., 2025). The use of the concepts of ambiance and atmosphere raises a question: how does the presence of a scene in an area manifest itself in terms of ambiance and atmosphere, and how does this manifestation effectively contribute to the evolution or even transformation of a territory? It seems necessary to ask how a scene can create an ambiance in a territory. The role of urban morphology can be taken into account, but it is also necessary to understand how the specificity of cultural activity and the spatial form of the location of a scene within a given area influence the ability of a cultural scene to create an atmosphere. The conflicts surrounding the transformation of the ambiance or atmosphere of a neighbourhood also seem to us to be an interesting issue, or the cultural practices that bring about disruptive ambiances (Lasén, 2018; Lasén and Casu, 2020).
The concepts of ambiance and atmosphere challenged by the perspective of the scene
The third line of inquiry that we would like to address concerns the challenges that taking cultural scenes into account as generators of atmospheres raises for the field of research on ambiances and atmospheres. “How can the presence of a sociocultural group and its activities create an atmosphere or ambiance?” We think it would be interesting to assess how the different approaches within “atmosphere studies” (for example, the aesthetic approach by Böhme (2020), the new phenomenology of Schmitz (2016) or the pragmatist approach by Thibaud (2004)) address this issue, and what conceptual proposals emerge within different positions and biases. Looking at scenes as “producers” of atmospheres also raises the question of the importance of symbols for the emergence and experience of atmospheres. Indeed, unlike meteorological atmospheres, for example, scenes are not only present in a place on an atmospheric level, but also explicitly on a symbolic level. This question seems to us to be particularly important for this form of atmospheres. We also invite methodological contributions that explore the research tools or methods to be implemented in order to capture the atmosphere of a scene.
The role of diversity of bodies and of power relations within scenes and their ambiances/atmospheres
The notion of scene and that of ambiance are concepts that capture collective dynamics and tendencies, whether objective or subjective. But what about the difference, the otherness, the individuality of bodies? How do power relations, whether they are related to gender, race, class or age, associated with validism or intersectionality, manifest themselves in the context of ambience, atmosphere or remarkable scenes? Do unequal relations act in opposition to the dynamics of the scenes, or do they work, on the contrary, to create more egalitarian or even fusional dynamics? We are thinking, for example, of dance situations, sports tournaments (long-distance races, pétanque tournaments, etc.) or other performances. To what extent are bodies, in their individuality, diluted or not diluted in these phenomena? In what circumstances, in the context of incidents in experienced settings, can they call into question remarkable scenes or atmospheres?
These lines of thought outline only four possible approaches to structuring this intersection between the two fields of research. Of course, contributions focusing on other aspects are also welcome, as long as they relate to the intersection between cultural scenes and atmospheres.
Bibliography
Ambrosino, C.; Michel, B.; Sagot-Duvauroux, D. (eds.) 2025: Scènes artistiques. Au-delà de la ville creative. Grenoble: PUG.
Augoyard, J. F. 1998: Eléments pour une théorie des ambiances architecturales et urbaines. In: Les Cahiers de la Recherche Architecturale, 42/43, pp. 7‑23. https://hal.science/hal-02103997v1
Bennett, A.; Peterson, R. A. (eds.) 2004: Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual. Vanderbilt University Press: Nashville.
Böhme, G. (2020): Aisthétique – Pour une esthétique de l’expérience sensible. Dijon: Les presses du reel.
Boivin, R. 2022: Popular music studies et enquête ethnographique : une mise à l’épreuve de la scène musicale du quartier de La Plaine à Marseille. In: Volume !, 19(2), pp. 103‑117. https://doi.org/10.4000/volume.10905
Cathus, O. 1998: L’âme-sueur. Le funk et les musiques populaires du XXe siècle. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer.
Edensor, T. 2015: Producing atmospheres at the match: Fan cultures, commercialisation and mood management in English football. In: Emotion, Space and Society, 15, pp. 82‑89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2013.12.010
Guibert, G. 2012: La notion de scène locale. Pour une approche renouvelée de l’analyse des courants musicaux. In: Dorin S. (ed.), Sound Factory. Musiques et logiques de l’industrialisation. Paris: Seteun/Uqbar, pp. 93‑124.
Guibert, G. 2016: La scène comme outil d’analyse en sociologie de la culture. In: L’Observatoire, 47, pp. 17‑20. https://doi.org/10.3917/lobs.047.0017
Hubbard, P.; Kitchin R. (eds.) 2004: Key Thinkers on Space and Place. London: Sage.
Julmi, C. 2017: The Concept of Atmosphere in Management and Organization Studies. In: Organizational Aesthetics, 6(1), pp. 4‑30. https://oa.journals.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/oa/article/view/76
Lasén, A. 2018: Disruptive Ambient Music: Mobile Phone Music Listening as Portable Urbanism, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 21 (1), pp. 96‑110. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549417705607
Lasén, A.; Casu, M. 2020: Mobile Listening, Disruptive Ambient Music and Public Art Projects in Madrid. In: L. Hjorth, A. de Souza e Silva, K. Lanson (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media Art. NY Oxon: Routledge, pp. 69‑80.
Pagoni, M. 1997: Du concept-outil au concept-objet. Une méthode d’analyse de la conceptualisation des valeurs morales pendant l’adolescence. In: Spirale – Revue de recherches en education, 20, pp. 73‑92. https://www.persee.fr/doc/spira_0994-3722_1997_num1_1593
Paiva, D.; Sánchez, I. 2020: The territoriality of atmosphere: Rethinking affective urbanism through the collateral atmospheres of Lisbon’s tourism. In: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46(2), pp. 392‑405. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12425
Schmitz, H. (2016): Atmospheric Spaces. In: Ambiances. International Journal of Sensory Environment, architecture and urban space, online at: https://doi.org/10.4000/ambiances.711.
Silver, D.; Clark, T. N. 2014: La puissance des scènes : Quantité d’aménités et qualité des lieux. In: Cahiers de recherche sociologique, 57, pp. 33‑60. https://doi.org/10.7202/1035274ar
Stahl, G. 2004: ‘It’s like Canada reduced’: setting the scene in Montreal. In: Bennett A.; Kahn Harris K. (eds.) After subculture: critical studies in contemporary youth culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 51‑65.
Thibaud, J.-P. 2004: Une approche pragmatique des ambiances urbaines. In: Amphoux, P.; Thibaud, J.-P.; Chelkoff, G. (eds.) Ambiances en Débats. Bernin: A la Croisée, pp. 145‑161
Woo, B.; Rennie, J.; Pointz S. (eds.) 2015: Scene Thinking: Cultural Studies from the Scene Perspective. Cultural Studies, Special issue 29(3). https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcus20/29/3
Editors of the special issue
Gérôme Guibert, (gerome.guibert[AT]sorbonne-nouvelle.fr), Professeur de sociologie, Institut de la Communication et des médias, UFR Arts & Médias, IRMECCEN (EA 7546), Université Sorbonne Nouvelle.
Rainer Kazig, (rainer.kazig[AT]grenoble.archi.fr), Chargé de recherche CNRS, UMR Ambiances – Architectures – Urbanités, Université Grenoble Alpes, École nationale d’architecture de Grenoble.
Amparo Lasén, (alasen[AT]cps.ucm.es), Professor of Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid, member of the Sociología Ordinaria research group.
Information on submission and publication
Articles in English or French, 30,000 to 50,000 characters (including spaces, excluding bibliography)
Deadline for submission: 7 July 2025
First feedback to authors: 18 July 2025
Double-blind peer review
Publication: open issue from November 2025
Follow the notes for authors on formatting: https://journals.openedition.org/ambiances/163
Send your articles to: journal[AT]ambiances.net
Questions: If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the editors of the issue
Notes
1 The call stems from the ANR SCAENA project (https://scaena.hypotheses.org/), which focused on the interaction between cultural scenes, atmospheres and urban development.
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