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88 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 3 2o17
Samantha Wilkinson, Catherine Wilkinson | Night-Life and Young Peopleâs Atmospheric Mobilities
The other night we went to Maverickâs [nightclub], in the city centre, it was raining, it was
Friday night, it was raining. It was my mateâs 21st I felt dead sorry for her, because it was
just a disaster. Her mates from uni were meant to be coming down, but three of them are
from Durham, and the train got cancelled, and they got stuck in Leeds, so they couldnât
get here, because the weather was terrible
(David, 21, Wythenshawe, interview)
Here, it can be seen that train and tram disruptions yield negative affective atmospheres of
frustration (see Duff and Moore 2015); they can heighten sensitivities, reducing oneâs capacity
to tolerate other affects (Wilson, 2011). In the event of a disruption, it can be seen that âthe com-
fort associated with anticipated...sequences of events are brutally scrambledâ (Bissell 2010, 275).
Tram and train schedules then are, what Vannini (2012, 257) would term, âinfluential perfor-
mers of polyrhythmic attunementâ. Yet, equally, such schedules are also âthe key protagonists
behind instances of âarrhythmiaââ (Vannini 2012, 257). In addition to scheduling issues, David
highlights the significance of weather conditions, contending that the embodied rhythms of
this night out was perturbed by the arrhythmic events of ârainâ, and the consequent disruption
to train services. Having discussed how young people have both the capacity to affect, and
be affected by, the atmospheres of vehicular mobilities, this paper now turns to discuss the
atmospheres of bar / club spaces.
Commercial Drinking Spaces and Atmospheric Mobilities
Participant observations undertaken by the first author lend credence to understandings that
drunkenness is not about alcohol alone (see Jayne et al. 2010). The music, lighting, non-alco-
holic drinks, glasses, and other bodies were all materials acting on the researcher, influencing
her corporeal experiences of space, and making a difference to the social experiences of alcohol
consumption (see Duff 2012). The can be illustrated through the following passage from the
first authorâs field diary:
Despite only having one vodka and coke, I felt drunk. Normally, I require a certain number of
drinks in order to have the confidence to dance. However, tonight, being surrounded by other
mobile drunken bodies, the darkness of the club, and the thump of the upbeat music, increased
my ability to dance uninhibited⊠I even found myself participating in the Gangnam Style dance
without feeling self-conscious!
(Field diary, 21/12/2013, night out with Maisy, 18, and friends, Wythenshawe)
From the above extract, one can see that the first author experienced a transformation, her
body âbecameâ drunk, through its practices and encounters in assemblages with other drunken
bodies, the sonic environment, and lighting in the affectively charged space (see Waitt and Sta-
nes 2015). This notion is also evident in Peterâs map of his drinking spaces (see Figure 2):
Mobile Culture Studies
The Journal, Band 3/2017
- Titel
- Mobile Culture Studies
- Untertitel
- The Journal
- Band
- 3/2017
- Herausgeber
- Karl Franzens University Graz
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2017
- Sprache
- deutsch, englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 198
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften Mobile Culture Studies The Journal