The book analyses the cultural transfer of tango from Buenos Aires to Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Based on case studies of Berlin and Paris, it examines a cultural phenomenon that was part of an international urban entertainment industry. The period of investigation concentrates on a historical phase that was marked by social debates about high and popular culture. The book aims to close a gap in research, where cultural phenomena are often investigated on a national level, leaving aside the methodological consideration of transnational interconnections. The argumentation is based on a concept of hybrid culture that criticises the constructedness of the concept of cultural spaces as self-contained national contexts of tradition and focuses on the changes of cultural styles, forms and tradition in the process of migration and cultural contact instead. An empirical basis, created by examining the transfer channel, international dissemination and reception, serves as a starting point for the analysis of the mutual influence and entanglement of the cultural history of the examined cities. The transnational research perspective of this book is part of the newer urbanization research and aims to contribute to the historical analysis of European urban culture.

Dr. Kerstin Lange ist Historikerin und promovierte am Global and European Studies Institute der Universität Leipzig. Sie ist Mitarbeiterin am Promotionszentrum der Universität Bremen.