What Will I Be: American Music and Cold War Identity
Philip M. Gentry
Abstract
In the wake of World War II, the cultural life of the United States underwent a massive transformation. Central to the era was the rise of the concept of identity, and with it a reformulation of the country’s political life during the early Cold War. At the same time, a revolution in music was taking place, a tumult of new musical styles and institutions that would lead to everything from the birth of rock and roll to the new downtown experimental music. Together, these two trends came to define the era: a search for new social affinities and modes of self-fashioning, with music providing just ... More
In the wake of World War II, the cultural life of the United States underwent a massive transformation. Central to the era was the rise of the concept of identity, and with it a reformulation of the country’s political life during the early Cold War. At the same time, a revolution in music was taking place, a tumult of new musical styles and institutions that would lead to everything from the birth of rock and roll to the new downtown experimental music. Together, these two trends came to define the era: a search for new social affinities and modes of self-fashioning, with music providing just the right tool for doing so. What Will I Be: American Music and Cold War Identity follows the development of the concept of identity as it emerged alongside the development of new post-war music making. It travels through four very different musical scenes: early doo-wop pioneers the Orioles, the early film musicals of Doris Day, Asian American cabaret in San Francisco, and John Cage’s infamous silent piece. Close analyses of small moments in the lives of musicians, composers, critics, and fans look at how individuals negotiated the larger social forces sweeping the country, laying the groundwork for many of today’s political and musical narratives.
Keywords:
American music,
identity,
Doris Day,
John Cage,
Orioles
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780190299590 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2017 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190299590.001.0001 |
