Book
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
The Power of the Zoot
Youth Culture and Resistance during World War II
-
Luis Alvarez
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2008
About this book
Flamboyant zoot suit culture, with its ties to fashion, jazz and swing music, jitterbug and Lindy Hop dancing, unique patterns of speech, and even risqué experimentation with gender and sexuality, captivated the country's youth in the 1940s. The Power of the Zoot is the first book to give national consideration to this famous phenomenon. Providing a new history of youth culture based on rare, in-depth interviews with former zoot-suiters, Luis Alvarez explores race, region, and the politics of culture in urban America during World War II. He argues that Mexican American and African American youths, along with many nisei and white youths, used popular culture to oppose accepted modes of youthful behavior, the dominance of white middle-class norms, and expectations from within their own communities.
Author / Editor information
Alvarez Luis :
Luis Alvarez is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego.
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Frontmatter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
vii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Illustrations
ix -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Acknowledgments and Dedication
xi -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Introduction
1 - Part One. Dignity Denied. Youth In The Early War Years
-
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
1. Race and Political Economy
15 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
2. Class Politics and Juvenile Delinquency
42 - Part Two. The Struggle For Dignity. Zoot Style During World War II
-
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
3. Zoot Style and Body Politics
77 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
4. Zoots, Jazz, and Public Space
113 - Part Three. Violence And National Belonging On The Home Front
-
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
5. Zoot Violence In Los Angeles
155 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
6. Race Riots across the United States
200 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Epilogue: From Zoot Suits to Hip-Hop
235 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Notes
245 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Bibliography
289 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Index
305
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
June 2, 2008
eBook ISBN:
9780520934214
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
336
eBook ISBN:
9780520934214
Keywords for this book
zoot suit; american culture; jazz music; swing music; united states history; gender studies; youth culture; wartime; experimental; experimentation; sexuality; 1940s; phenomenon; interviews; academic; scholarly; race issues; racism; jazz musician; jitterbug; regional; politics; lindy hop; political; urban; wwii; world war 2; mexican american; minority groups; middle class; urban america; american history; african american; cultural history; us history; race; popular culture; culture
