Edinburgh: the festival gaze and its boundaries

Jamieson, Kirstie

Abstract

This article examines the temporal and spatial boundaries of Edinburgh’s festival identity. It unravels Edinburgh’s festivals in terms of the spaces and identities they produce and their functions. Although there is no one definitive standpoint from which a festival city such as Edinburgh can be objectively mapped, the bounded appeal of live performance, outdoor reveling, and alternative ways of using the city during festival time reveal how the festival gaze manipulates urban identity, public space, and play. By engaging with the spatiality of Edinburgh’s festival culture, the festival identity upon which the city self-consciously relies is explored through the concepts of carnivalesque, play, and the transformation of identity.

Citation

Jamieson, K. (2004). Edinburgh: the festival gaze and its boundaries. Space and Culture, 7(1), 64-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331203256853

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2004
• Deposit Date: Mar 10, 2008
• Journal: Space and Culture
• Print ISSN: 1206-3312
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-8308
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 64-75
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331203256853
• Keywords: temporal boundaries; spatial boundaries; urban identity; public space; play; Edinburgh; festival
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/2328
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1206331203256853