How to make a career by writing against jazz: Anton Giulio Bragaglia’s Jazz Band (1929)

Abstract

Anton Giulio Bragaglia’s book Jazz Band (1929) is a unique case. The author (1890–1960), a well-known Italian writer, critic, theatre director and a pioneer in photography and cinema, in his early years joined Futurism, the literary and artistic movement started and led by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Marinetti and other Futurists (Carmelich, Casavola, Fillia, Manolo, Nervetti) showed interest in African-American music and wrote about it. In the 1920s, when jazz became popular all over the world, Futurist authors were the first to promote jazz fiction. After 1927, however, Mussolini’s Fascist regime made it increasingly difficult to promote international culture, including music. Fascism appreciated Bragaglia’s Jazz Band, an ambivalent yet violent attack against African-American music and dance, divided between fascination and racist rejection. Thanks to Jazz Band, Bragaglia was back in favor with the Fascist regime and ultimately was appointed Director of Teatro delle Arti (1937), the first Italian public theatre.