VON TANZ UND GLANZ IN DER DOPPELMONARCHIE ÖSTERREICH-UNGARN. BÄLLE IN TEMESWAR AM ANFANG DES 20. JAHRHUNDERTS
Of Dance and Glamour in the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. Balls in Timișoara at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the study is to outline some elements of sociability and leisure at the beginning of the 20th century in Timișoara/Temeswar. The theoretical approach focuses on the analysis of the public sphere in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in a time period characterised by major changes. In this respect, in order to investigate the relation between the most important city of Banat and the capitals of the monarchy, Budapest and Vienna, I applied the centre-periphery theory. According to this wellknown model encountered in historical, social and geographical studies, the centre influences the periphery not only economically, but also from a social, political and cultural point of view. The periphery copies some socially accepted behavioural patterns by means of imitation and adaptation. The subjects of my analysis are the social actors of Timișoara/Temeswar and their leisure activities which took place in a closed, semi-public environment such as the ballroom. In this regard, I researched with the help of a qualitative and quantitative analysis the public spaces where the social actors used to meet at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose was to create a radiography both of these spaces and of the dancing activities taking place at balls and dancing parties that were organized in Timișoara at that time. I documented my research using the German-language newspaper “Temesvárer Zeitung. Südungarischer Lloyd”, which offered consistent information about the social sphere of the urban Banat 100 years ago.

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