Dr Jonathan Moss

This book explores and challenges the concept and experience of liminality as applied to critical perspectives in the study of events. It will be of interest to researchers in event studies, social and discursive psychology, cultural and political sociology, and social movement studies. In addition, it will provide interested general readers with new ways of thinking and reflecting on events. Contributing authors undertake a discussion of the borders, boundaries, and areas of contestation between the established social anthropological concept of liminality and the emerging field of critical event studies. By drawing these two perspectives closer together, the collection considers tensions and resonances between them, and uses those connections to enhance our understanding of both cultural and sporting events and offer fresh insight into events of activism, protest, and dissent.

This prelude provides an overview to this new and exciting Critical Events Studies (CES) body of work. Exploring the multifaceted, multidimensional, conceptualisation of liminality is the central refrain of this book, and this chapter provides the key to this analytical compilation. The chapter outlines the theoretical history and foundations of liminality as well as the book’s three sections, each with its own variation on the theme. In ‘Overtures’ we dialogically review the conception of liminality from the editors’ perspectives and liminality’s role in event management education. ‘Oratorios’ focuses on liminality and its association with sports and other cultural events. Lastly, ‘Counterpoint’ closes by examining an area of increasing interest in Critical Events Studies, that of activism and dissent through a critical events lens.

This volume -with contributions from a range of international scholars- is the first to consider the wide variety of research approaches being used by academics from around the world, whose interests lie within the reach of this emerging ...

It moves away from an older paradigm of simply 'making events work' and managing inputs to show a sector that now needs to be: outcome obsessed, stakeholder centric, strategically focused and driven by strategically aware reflective ...

This paper provides in-depth discussion of a methodological approach to researching music festival experience. Grounded in existential phenomenology (Heidegger, 1927/1962. Being and time (J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson, Trans.). Oxford: Blackwell) it argues for the adoption of an interpretative phenomenological perspective (Merleau–Ponty, 1945/1962. Phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). New York, NY: Humanities Press) to more fully understand the live music festival experience. Phenomenological psychology (Smith, Harre and Van Langenhove, 1995. Ideography and the case–study. In J. A. Smith, R. Harre, & L. Van Langenhove (Eds.), Rethinking psychology (pp. 59–69). London: SAGE Publications) contextualises the music festival experience within the attendee's Lifeworld. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications Ltd) provides a robust process for analysing the music festival experience ideographically. Participants used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) (Hurlburt & Heavey, 2001. Telling what we know: Describing inner experience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5(9), 400–403) to record their Green Man music festival experiences, this data was then explored during phenomenological interviews. DES and IPA provide a contrasting conceptualisation of experience, with findings that contribute to Ashworth's (2003b. The phenomenology of the lifeworld and social psychology. Social Psychology Review, 5(1), 18–34) theories of Lifeworld and Krueger's (2014b. Varieties of extended emotions. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 13(4), 533–555) Hypothesis of Individual Extended Emotions and his Hypothesis of Collective Extended Emotions. Lastly, building upon the application and adaptability to the music festival context allows a consideration of future studies.

This dialogic chapter opens the book with a discussion between the two editors. We are presenting a collection that has contributions from around the world, with perspectives that don’t always agree with each other’s take on the concept; and that, in our view, is exciting. That diversity is also present between us, as an editorial team. Whilst we both share common interests and our different approaches to the field of event studies resonate significantly, we thought it would be interesting to share, through an informal conversation, something that illustrates where our perspectives cohere and diverge. By documenting a conversation, we felt that the ideas would emerge more organically and therefore be an accessible and interesting format for the beginning of the book.

This prelude provides an overview to this new and exciting Critical Events Studies (CES) body of work. Exploring the multifaceted, multidimensional, conceptualisation of liminality is the central refrain of this book, and this chapter provides the key to this analytical compilation. The chapter outlines the theoretical history and foundations of liminality as well as the book’s three sections, each with its own variation on the theme. In ‘Overtures’ we dialogically review the conception of liminality from the editors’ perspectives and liminality’s role in event management education. ‘Oratorios’ focuses on liminality and its association with sports and other cultural events. Lastly, ‘Counterpoint’ closes by examining an area of increasing interest in Critical Events Studies, that of activism and dissent through a critical events lens.

In this research letter we reflect on a new mixed methods approach to gaining a deep understanding of shared tourism experiences and the memory of them. We combined an adaptation of descriptive experience sampling with self-recorded conversations and in-depth interviews. The method is described and critically reflected upon with suggestions for the future use of this approach within events and tourism research.

Although there is much discussion of what makes travel experiences memorable there is less on how remembering those experiences together then makes us feel and act. This empirical paper builds upon recent conceptual work in shared emotional memory, and explores the processes through which memories are negotiated and how these then affect our attitudes and behavioral intentions. Using an innovative qualitative methodology, we analyze individual and shared memories from six pairs of festival tourists. The findings highlight how wellbeing increases, through a shared reality and sense of belonging, as we negotiate an agreed memory of a past experience. The agreed memory is formed through negotiation, attunement, and emotional synchrony. This desire to agree and the wellbeing benefits that accrue strongly influence attitudes, behavioral intentions, and word-of-mouth. There are important implications for tourism practitioners in the design of experiences and in post-trip marketing activities informed by and influencing consumer memory sharing.

Although there is much discussion of what makes travel experiences memorable there is less on how remembering those experiences together then makes us feel and act. This empirical paper builds upon recent conceptual work in shared emotional memory, and explores the processes through which memories are negotiated and how these then affect our attitudes and behavioral intentions. Using an innovative qualitative methodology, we analyze individual and shared memories from six pairs of festival tourists. The findings highlight how wellbeing increases, through a shared reality and sense of belonging, as we negotiate an agreed memory of a past experience. The agreed memory is formed through negotiation, attunement, and emotional synchrony. This desire to agree and the wellbeing benefits that accrue strongly influence attitudes, behavioral intentions, and word-of-mouth. There are important implications for tourism practitioners in the design of experiences and in post-trip marketing activities informed by and influencing consumer memory sharing.

Purpose – Using techniques developed mainly in subjective well-being and “happiness” studies, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the applicability of these and related methods for understanding and evaluating the emotional responses experienced within the live music event environment. Design/methodology/approach – The concept of “experience” is debated and set within the context of music events designed to create a specific type of emotional experience for the attendees. The main tools for researching experiences over a time period are considered focusing on the “experience sampling method” (ESM) (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997) and the “day reconstruction method” (Kahneman et al., 2004). These methods are critiqued in terms of their usefulness and practicality as research tools in the study of audience emotions. Findings – A revised method was then developed and a small-scale trial undertaken at a live music event, the results of which are presented and discussed. A conceptual model illustrating the interconnectedness of experience is introduced as an example of the application of the data gathered through this method to theory development. The paper concludes by reflecting on both the methodological appropriateness and practicality of ESMs as a way of gathering valuable data on the emotions engendered by events. Research limitations/implications – An obstacle yet to be overcome is using this data to predict attitudinal and behavioural change related to arts marketing goals. However, studies in other areas have clearly shown that emotional response is a significant indicator of future behaviour suggesting that the potential is there. Practical implications – The trialled method provides a useful starting point for better understanding the complexity of emotional effects triggered at live music events. Originality/value – The paper concludes that an adaptation of these methods has the potential to provide much needed rich and credible data on the feelings and emotional reactions triggered by different elements of a live event.