Vertigo - The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany. Chapter 7: The Charleston Years

第七章，“查尔斯顿时代”，深入探讨了魏玛共和国时期德国20年代充满活力且复杂的舞蹈文化，探索其社会、政治和艺术维度。在战后焦虑、经济不稳定和美国爵士乐的诱惑下，舞蹈成为一种现象，反映了那个时代的矛盾：自由和绝望，传统和现代，兴奋和幻灭。 本章首先突出了“舞男”的形象，即受雇的男性舞者，年轻时的比利·怀尔德就是一个例子。这种做法突显了当时改变的性别动态，女性可以付费在舞池里获得陪伴。舞男象征着权力关系的转变，女性行使了更多的经济自主权。这篇文章强调了这种职业背后的实用主义，以及怀尔德本人作为舞男后来所写的社会评论。 然后，文本转向席卷德国的更广泛的舞蹈热潮，特别是西米舞和查尔斯顿舞。这些起源于非裔美国人文化的舞蹈，在舞池中提供了一种新的自由和个人主义的感觉，打破了僵化的传统舞蹈形式。人们不再受固定舞步或正式训练的束缚，可以通过即兴动作来表达自己。然而，这种“对舞蹈自由的滥用”受到了传统舞蹈教师的批评，反映了一种文化冲突。 虽然被许多人视为解放，但新的舞蹈风格也受到了保守派的怀疑和蔑视。批评家认为，这种疯狂的能量和“原始”动作表明社会道德正在衰落，一种“在火山上跳舞”的心态，忽视了国家根深蒂固的问题。例如，奥托·迪克斯和乔治·格罗斯将舞厅描绘成在普遍苦难中放纵的令人厌恶的表现。克劳斯·曼将舞蹈热潮等同于一种遗忘的形式。 本章接着探讨了德国人与非裔美国人文化之间的复杂关系。像约瑟芬·贝克这样的黑人音乐家和舞者在德国非常受欢迎，体现了异国情调和“野蛮”的能量。然而，贝克的成功带有一丝种族主义色彩，因为她经常被简化为关于她“黑人精神”的刻板印象。本节还阐明了黑人德国人的经历，包括前殖民士兵，他们面临歧视和“黑人耻辱”运动，尽管他们为德国社会做出了贡献。 本章重点介绍了从大型舞厅到主题场馆的出现，这些场馆提供各种主题空间，从西部牛仔到土耳其咖啡馆。这些空间突出了全球世界越来越容易被游客访问的主题，但通过主题公园的视角扭曲了。在像英嘉·冯·瓦根海姆这样的人看来，这些空间代表了资本主义的地狱，充满了腐败和伪艺术家。本章最后重点介绍了对舞蹈热潮的批评，如文化布尔什维主义和美国主义，以及一个深刻分裂和腐朽的文化的象征。同样地，它也突出了音乐如何解决贫困、住房、消费主义、自我剥削和战争，并有助于缓解痛苦。

Chapter 7, "The Charleston Years," delves into the vibrant and complex dance culture of Weimar Republic Germany in the 1920s, exploring its social, political, and artistic dimensions. Fueled by post-war anxieties, economic instability, and the allure of American jazz, dance became a phenomenon that reflected the era's contradictions: freedom and despair, tradition and modernity, exhilaration and disillusionment. The chapter begins by highlighting the figure of the "jiggalo," a male dancer for hire, as exemplified by a young Billy Wilder. This practice highlights the altered gender dynamics of the time, where women could pay for companionship on the dance floor. The jiggalo symbolized a shift in power relations, where women exercised more economic agency. The article underscores the pragmatism behind this profession, and the social commentary Wilder, himself a jiggalo, would later write. The text then shifts to the broader dance craze that swept Germany, particularly the shimmy and the Charleston. These dances, originating in African American culture, offered a new sense of freedom and individualism on the dance floor, breaking away from rigid traditional dance forms. No longer bound by fixed steps or formal training, people could express themselves through improvised movements. However, this "misuse of dancing freedom" was criticized by traditional dance instructors, reflecting a cultural clash. While embraced by many as liberating, the new dance styles were also viewed with suspicion and disdain by conservative elements. Critics saw the frenetic energy and "primitive" movements as indicative of a society in moral decay, a "dancing on the volcano" mentality that ignored the country's deep-seated problems. Otto Dix and George Grosz, for example, depicted the dance halls as repulsive displays of indulgence amidst widespread suffering. Klaus Mann equated the dance craze to a form of oblivion. The chapter then explores the complex relationship between Germans and African American culture. Black musicians and dancers, like Josephine Baker, became immensely popular in Germany, embodying exoticism and "savage" energy. Baker's success, however, was tinged with racism, as she was often reduced to stereotypes about her "Negro spirit." This section also sheds light on the experiences of Black Germans, including former colonial soldiers, who faced discrimination and the "black shame" campaign, despite their contributions to German society. The chapter highlights the emergence of venues from grand dance halls, offering a variety of themed spaces from Westerns to Turkish cafes. These spaces underscore the theme of a global world becoming increasingly available to tourists, yet distorted through the theme park lens. From the perspective of people like Inga von Wagenheim, these spaces represented a capitalistic inferno, filled with corruption and pseudo-artists. The chapter ends by highlighting the criticism leveled against the dance craze, as cultural bolshevism, and americanism, and a sign of a deeply divided and decaying culture. By the same measure, it highlights how music addressed poverty, housing, consumerism, self-exploitation and war and helped to address suffering.