FUSION OF ARTS IN JAZZ POETRY

Abstract

The article deals with the study of Jazz poetry as a part of integral jazz art which highly involves music, literature, singing and jazz dancing and presents a complex worldview. Intertextuality of jazz poetry is claimed to characteristic feature of postmodern literature.  Basic ideas of democracy, equality, tolerance and struggle for freedom and justice determine such key qualities of jazz art as polyphony, polyrythmy, improvisation and emotionality. Examples of different literary stylistic devices (repetitions (lexical and syntactic; anaphor, epistrophe, parallelism), alternation of long and short phrases and syncopes, complex sentences and constructions, lack of punctuation, thematical shifts and digressions, rhetorical questions) used to express democracy, equality, tolerance and struggle for freedom and justice in jazz poems are provided extensively.

Multi-aspect nature of jazz art combining music, singing, literature and dancing determines its deep symbolism. Music which since its very uprise has been Jazz foundation, its secret code, its central means of struggle for freedom, has produced the majority of symbol-dominants in Jazz poetry (saxophone, horn, drums, banjo and piano) which possess special connotations of ancient traditions, authenticity, cultural uniqueness and sensuousness of Afro-Americans.

Dance and singing imagery are also of great importance in jazz verses. Blues and Broadway jazz represent both deep voiceless grief of former slaves and unrestrained merriment inherent in Afro-American culture. Jazz dance as well as jazz music, is a symbol of resistance, disobedience, rebellion against former white masters. Jazz dance is a rebellion against the traditions of classical dance reflecting the struggle against established social norms.