What is nocturnal about night studies? Insights from Turin, Italy
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The relation between the urban diurnal and the urban nocturnal has been famously conceptualized with the metaphor of the night as frontier . Originally proposed by Murray Melbin in 1978, the phrase suggests that the nocturnal has been gradually colonized by the capitalist logics of the day. This article contributes to provincializing night studies by postulating a nonlinear and non-dichotomous relation between the urban diurnal and nocturnal. Specifically, the article adopts the philosophical perspective of the constitutive outside , as articulated in a recent strand of contemporary urban studies, exploring the paradoxical and even contradictory generative tensions shaping the meanings, materialities and politics of the urban night. This theoretical posture is explored through the case of Turin, Italy, a city that has developed a complex tension between the diurnal and the nocturnal which cannot be interpreted simply from a dichotomistic perspective, as the metaphor of the urban frontier suggests. • The article examines the idea of the nocturnal as a constitutive outside of the diurnal. • Nonlinear and non-dichotomous relations between the diurnal and nocturnal are explored. • The case of Turin reveals paradoxical generative tensions shaping the urban night. • The authors issue a call for a critical nocturnal gaze.
Source: City Culture and Society
Authors: Enrico Petrilli, Alberto Vanolo
Institution: University of Turin
Language: English
Topic: Night-time city culture
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,470
OpenAlex ID: W4405349632