Jazz and Postwar French Identity

In the decades following World War II, French jazz audiences engaged in a process that both challenged and reinforced ideas about their own nation and culture. By negotiating subjects such as youth culture, gender expectations, American consumer society, citizenship, racism, civil rights, and decolonization, the French jazz public expressed important beliefs about France’s place in a fast-changing world and a desire to maintain a strong national identity in the face of globalization.