Through the lens of the Cold War, jazz in the Soviet Union appears as a struggle between conservative party bosses and a rebellious youth striving for freedom and democracy. Michel Abesser’s talk addresses Soviet jazz culture and debates after 1953 and argues for a more complex understanding of its protagonists, discourses and practices. Such a focus can expand our ideas of youth, social stratification after Stalin’s death, and the hybridity between professional and amateur culture.
The paper is based on Professor Abesser’s book, Den Jazz sowjetisch machen: Kulturelle Leitbilder, Musikmarkt und Distinktion zwischen 1953 und 1970, published by Böhlau Verlag in 2018.
Michel Abesser, Research Associate, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
*This paper will be presented in English.
