American Allegory: Lindy Hop and the Racial Imagination

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Description

“Most likely,” wrote Ralph Ellison more than seventy years ago, “the zoot suit incorporates profound political meaning; Most likely the symmetrical frenzy of the Lindy-hop conceals clues to great potential power.” As Ellison noted then, many of our most mundane cultural forms are larger and more vital than they appear, taking on great significance and an unexpected depth of meaning. What he saw within the power of the Lindy Hop—the dance that Life magazine once billed as “The us’s True National Folk Dance”—would spread from black The us to make a lasting impression on white The us and offer us a actually compelling means of figuring out our culture. But with what hidden implications?

In American Allegory, Black Hawk Hancock offers an embedded and embodied ethnography that situates dance within a larger Chicago landscape of segregated social practices. Delving into two Chicago dance worlds, the Lindy and Steppin’, Hancock uses a combination of participant-remark and interviews to bring to the surface the racial tension that surrounds white use of black cultural forms. Specializing in new kinds of appropriation in an era of multiculturalism, Hancock underscores the institutionalization of racial disparities and offers wonderful insights into the intersection of race and culture in The us.

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