Kuidas nõukogustada džässi? Lisandusi džässivastase kampaania algusele Nõukogude Eestis 1946. aasta varasügisel

Abstract

The Soviet regime, which returned to Estonia in the autumn of 1944, launched an extensive process of Sovietisation that affected all spheres of life in society. Jazz music also fell out of favour. An antijazz campaign was launched in the Estonian SSR during September and October 1946 in the press, where articles penned by the music critic Serafim Milovski, who was exceedingly loyal to the regime, set the tone. Yet the attacks on jazz were not limited to the press alone. This article shows that against the background of the public ‘discussion’ that took place in the press, the question of jazz – how to Sovietise jazz? – also appeared on the agenda at the level of the power elite of the Estonian SSR. A letter dated 28 September 1946 from Johannes Semper, the head of the Estonian SSR Arts Administration, to Nikolai Karotamm, the leader of the Estonian Communist Party, confirms this. The letter outlines the power elite’s shared understanding with regard to jazz music, which influenced the Soviet regime’s subsequent steps in guiding this sphere of activity towards a Soviet path.