Free Action: Jazz as a Catalyst in West German Arts and Culture

Advancing the New Jazz Studies by focusing on questions of intermediality and cultural catalysis, this book demonstrates the role jazz played in the re-making of West German culture in the post-war era.

The shadow of National Socialism, a history of German polarisation by jazz, and the influences of occupation and division, meant that jazz catalysed influential young creative artists. These included writers such as Nobel Laureate Günter Grass, Young German Cinema filmmakers like Hansjürgen P...