“So What:” Jazz Musicians and French Critics in Dialogue, 1918-1959

Abstract

This thesis charts the reception of jazz in France and the genealogy of jazz criticism in France during the interwar and (1918-1939) and postwar periods (1945-1959), with a focus on the dialogue that emerged between jazz race, identity, and authenticity. This discourse originated in France between African American jazz musicians and French audiences in the form of performance and critique. In this thesis, I argue that French jazz criticism was rooted in racially essentialist notions and that jazz musicians, through their music, refuted these racially essentialist characterizations.