This article examines the British government's information activities in early post-war Japan, and explores the unique role they played in the history of the American-led occupation. In the early ...post-war period, the British mission in Tokyo could only act within the constraints set by the occupation authorities. However, its close relationship with American officials allowed it to project British achievements in Japanese society through a wide range of media, including publications, exhibitions and people-to-people contacts. A particular emphasis was placed on the theme of British socialism, which was believed to be more relevant to post-war Japan than the American and Soviet models of democracy, and therefore more effective in countering the threat of communism. As such, the British welfare state and its post-war reconstruction featured prominently in this approach. Confidence in the quality of British information underpinned Britain's overt and covert information campaigns. Also, the British view that Japan was essentially an opportunistic country meant that post-occupation Japan's pro-Western posture was not guaranteed. Accordingly, projections of British national achievements - possessing a unique anti-communist theme - were aimed at keeping Japan rooted firmly in the Western sphere.
This article examines British propaganda efforts in post-war Japan, focusing on the scope of activities and limitations of the Foreign Office's Information Research Department (IRD). Although the IRD ...built a wide network of recipients for its anti-communist material in Japan, it soon faced difficulties in conducting operations when the British embassy officials started to question its influence in Japanese society - since they believed it was a culture so unique that pro forma IRD materials were unsuitable. Assessing the tensions between London and Tokyo contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the seemingly monolithic propaganda policies of the IRD.
From the mid-1950s to the late 1970s, jazz was harnessed as America’s "sonic weapon" to promote an image to the world of a free and democratic America. Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington ...and other well-known jazz musicians were sent around the world – including to an array of Communist countries – as "jazz ambassadors" in order to mitigate the negative image associated with domestic racial problems. While many non-Americans embraced the Americanism behind this jazz diplomacy without question, others criticized American domestic and foreign policies while still appreciating jazz – thus jazz, despite its popularity, also became a medium for expressing anti-Americanism. This book examines the development of jazz outside America, including across diverse historical periods and geographies – shedding light on the effectiveness of jazz as an instrument of state power within a global political context. Saito examines jazz across a wide range of regions, including America, Europe, Japan and Communist countries. His research also draws heavily upon a variety of sources, primary as well as secondary, which are accessible in these diverse countries: all had their unique and culturally specific domestic jazz scenes, but also interacted with each other in an interesting dimension of early globalization. This comparative analysis on the range of unique jazz scenes and cultures offers a detailed understanding as to how jazz has been interpreted in various ways, according to the changing contexts of politics and society around it, often providing a basis for criticizing America itself. Furthering our appreciation of the organic relationship between jazz and global politics, Saito reconsiders the uniqueness of jazz as an exclusively "American music."This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, the history of popular music, and global politics.
Introduction Saito, Yoshiomi
The Global Politics of Jazz in the Twentieth Century,
2020
Book Chapter
Odprti dostop
From the mid-1950s to the late 1970s, jazz was harnessed as America’s "sonic weapon" to promote an image to the world of a free and democratic America. Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington ...and other well-known jazz musicians were sent around the world – including to an array of Communist countries – as "jazz ambassadors" in order to mitigate the negative image associated with domestic racial problems. While many non-Americans embraced the Americanism behind this jazz diplomacy without question, others criticized American domestic and foreign policies while still appreciating jazz – thus jazz, despite its popularity, also became a medium for expressing anti-Americanism. This book examines the development of jazz outside America, including across diverse historical periods and geographies – shedding light on the effectiveness of jazz as an instrument of state power within a global political context.
This chapter explores the impact of postwar ideological confrontation upon the domestic jazz scenes inside America and the Communist bloc countries during the 1940s and 1950s. As American society ...started to problematize the infiltration of Communism, New Deal Liberalism of the 1930s was put in an awkward position. Notably, Norman Granz, who is usually associated with Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) – the title of many recordings and numerous concerts – unequivocally advocated for racial integration. Because of this stance, however, he soon became a symbol of something un-American and was subsequently placed under the supervision of the FBI. Ironically, jazz followers in the Communist bloc countries were persecuted precisely because jazz stood out as “American music.” Consequently, under the so-called “Zhdanov doctrine,” jazz was expelled from official culture in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Still, during the 1950s, jazz became increasingly reinterpreted by Communist authorities, which made it compatible to be a Communist and a jazz fan.
Jazz ambassadors revisited Saito, Yoshiomi
The Global Politics of Jazz in the Twentieth Century,
2020
Book Chapter
This chapter considers ideas around the universality and particularity of jazz by focusing on five jazz musicians who were sent around the world during the 1950s: Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, ...Wilbur De Paris, Dave Brubeck and Jack Teagarden. As a result of the shift in global politics during the 1950s, the US government came to recognize the importance of government-sponsored cultural exchanges – cultural diplomacy – while simultaneously promoting their own reinterpretation of jazz. Increasingly, jazz, long denied any public status in symbolizing America abroad, became “American music,” representing the nation’s founding principles. Against this background, the US government’s jazz ambassadors program commenced in 1956. This chapter re-examines the various interpretations of jazz these musicians took, and the underlying Americanism that inevitably led to frictions among State Department officials, American musicians, and even local fans and musicians outside America.
Introduction Saito, Yoshiomi
The Global Politics of Jazz in the Twentieth Century,
2020
Book Chapter
Odprti dostop
This “Introduction” provides a short background on jazz as it has been employed as a diplomatic tool since the last century. This music has been associated with the philosophy of freedom, as shown by ...its reliance on individual creativity. Herein lies the foundation as to why jazz relates to politics, and why it represents the idea of Americanism. However, outside America, jazz has been interpreted in various ways, according to the changing contexts of politics and society around it, often providing a basis for criticizing America itself. The music has also been successful in encouraging transnational ties among fans and musicians in a global context. Keeping these various contexts of jazz in mind, we should not limit jazz’s historical role to Americanism and its associated ideas. Rather, there is a need to examine the development of jazz outside America, including across diverse historical periods and geographical places. Such an approach promises to shed important light on the influences of jazz within a global context.
Introduction Saito, Yoshiomi
The Global Politics of Jazz in the Twentieth Century,
2020
Book Chapter
Odprti dostop
From the mid-1950s to the late 1970s, jazz was harnessed as America’s "sonic weapon" to promote an image to the world of a free and democratic America. Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington ...and other well-known jazz musicians were sent around the world – including to an array of Communist countries – as "jazz ambassadors" in order to mitigate the negative image associated with domestic racial problems. While many non-Americans embraced the Americanism behind this jazz diplomacy without question, others criticized American domestic and foreign policies while still appreciating jazz – thus jazz, despite its popularity, also became a medium for expressing anti-Americanism. This book examines the development of jazz outside America, including across diverse historical periods and geographies – shedding light on the effectiveness of jazz as an instrument of state power within a global political context.
This chapter discusses the political dynamics underpinning the Soviet containment of the domestic effects of jazz, while also examining the background through which the Communist regime admitted ...American jazz ambassadors into the Soviet Union during the 1960s and early 1970s. The Soviet authorities sought to improve relations with America at this time, while minimizing the perceived risks to the Soviet people posed by American jazz and the idea of Americanism. Soviet tours by Benny Goodman, Earl Hines and Duke Ellington, as well as the unofficial jazz ambassador Gerry Mulligan, indicate the degree of official acceptance that occurred in parallel with the containment of their own jazz scenes and the Sovietization of the domestic jazz discourse. In this sense, the authorities’ treatment of American jazz musicians provides a useful analytical lens through which to understand jazz’s precarious position in Soviet society during this period.
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