"Jubilant spirits of freedom": Representations of the Lindy Hop in literature and film from the swing era to the swing revival

Kendra Unruh, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation argues that the Lindy Hop and the culture surrounding it provide a means for escape, freedom, and rebellion for those who dance it. A central argument of the dissertation is that the changes in racial ownership have affected the type of liberation associated with the dance. Each chapter centers on a different group of dancers—Black, working-class women; Black, working-class men; White, Australian women during WWII; and White men during the swing revival—and examines the ways that race, class, and gender shaped their interpretation of the Lindy Hop. Drawing on cultural history, I argue that representations of the Lindy Hop in literature and film mirror the real-life experiences of dancers while also filling in the blanks in historical accounts that primarily focus only on the lived experiences of White men. I examine the work of Ann Petry, Rudolph Fisher, Malcolm X, and others to argue that Lindy Hop dancers were able to not only escape their daily grind but also rebel against expectations put upon them based on their gender, race, and class. While other scholarly texts about the swing era and jazz music reference the Lindy Hop and discuss its importance to African American culture as well as the ways that jazz music and dance were culturally appropriated, not one of these works explores how the Lindy Hop has been a means of escape, freedom, and rebellion. The current scholarship on jazz music and dance neither traces the Lindy Hop throughout the entire twentieth century nor looks at literary representations of the dance. In examining American cultural history through the lens of the Lindy Hop, my research provides a new narrative of the relationship between a popular culture idiom and the social formation and protest of the twentieth century.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Mullen, Purdue University.

Subject Area

African American Studies|Modern literature|American studies|Black studies|Dance|Gender studies|Film studies

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