From the second half of the 19th century, the social and cultural phenomenon of bohemia begins to impose itself in the great European urban centers. In Lisbon, although with a different chronology and with clear adaptations to its local context, the bohemian ideals and practices are appropriate, readapted, re-read and implemented. Throughout the 19th century the bohemian Lisbon was associated with popular and marginal figures such as Fado musicians, bullfighters and prostitutes, with whom artists, intellectuals and even some aristocrats socialized, mainly by night time. With its rapidly growing popularity and dissemination, this phenomenon has evolved to a new practice of leisure, from which new spaces and practices of sociability arose, attracting a wider public and becoming part of a modern and urban way of living. This paper will focus the spaces and temporalities of bohemianism in Lisbon, from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century. From a vast and diverse set of documents, which include literary sources, memoirs, press and iconography, I intend to explore some questions, such as: how did the new bohemian practices relate to similar and previous popular sociability practices? Which new spaces, practices and forms of sociability emerged in Lisbon with the bohemian lifestyle? How did this result in the redefinition of urban spaces and their use? And how is it represented and received by a society strongly anchored in traditional moral values?

--

Night sociabilities; bohemianism; marginality; Lisbon