Jazz as Soundtrack of American Culture: Perceptions of Jazz and American Culture in National Socialist Periodicals in the Netherlands during the Second World War

Abstract

This thesis examines Dutch National Socialist periodicals in order to give a compelling answer to the question: How did National Socialist perceptions of jazz music shape Dutch perceptions of American culture during the Second World War (1940-1945)? It argues that a distinction can be made between pre- and post-Pearl Harbor interpretations of jazz in these periodicals. This dichotomy is marked by a shift from anti-jazz criticism to anti-American criticism. Furthermore, it also shows how National Socialist jazz criticism has reinforced the contradiction between the older and younger generations and alienated the Dutch ‘Americanized’ youth from the national Dutch culture by leading them towards the acceptance of American cultural norms and values. This thesis forms a so-called ‘pre-history’ of the Americanization process as it occurred in the Netherlands after the Second World War, because it argues that the first incentives for this process already emerged during the German occupation. In this way, it approaches Dutch jazz from a different angle and adds to the current Dutch jazz studies the debate on Americanization.