Екінші дүниежүзілік соғыстағы француз жастары: Zazou субмәдениеті

Subculture in France during World War II

The zazous were a subculture in France during World War II. They were young people expressing their individuality by wearing big or garish clothing (similar to the zoot suit fashion in America a few years before) and dancing wildly to swing jazz. Men wore large striped lumber jackets, while women wore short skirts, striped stockings and heavy shoes, and often carried umbrellas.

During the German occupation of France, the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazi occupiers, had an ultra conservative morality and started to use a whole range of laws against a youth that was restless and disenchanted. These young people expressed their resistance and nonconformity through aggressive dance competitions, sometimes against soldiers from the occupying forces. The Zazous were to be found throughout France, but were most concentrated in Paris. The two most important meeting places of the Zazous were the terrace of the Pam Pam cafe on the Champs Élysées and the Boul’Mich (the Boulevard Saint Michel near the Sorbonne). The Zazous of the Champs Elysées came from a more middle class background and were older than the Zazous of the Latin Quarter. The Champs Elysées Zazous were easily recognisable on the terrace of the Pam Pam and took afternoon bike rides in the Bois de Boulogne. In the Latin Quarter, the Zazous met in the cellar clubs of Dupont Latin or the Capoulade.

One fascist magazine commented on the male Zazou: "Here is the specimen of Ultra Swing 1941: hair hanging down to the neck, teased up into an untidy quiff, little moustache à la Clark Gable shoes with too thick soles, syncopated walk." The Zazous were directly inspired by jazz and swing music. A black jazz scene had sprung up in Montmartre in the inter war years. Black Americans felt freer in Paris than they did back home, and the home grown jazz scene was greatly reinforced by this immigration. Manouche Gypsy musicians like Django Reinhardt started playing swinging jazz music in the Paris clubs. The Zazous probably got their name from a line in a song – "Zah Zuh Zah" by the jazz musician Cab Calloway, An associate of the Zazous, the anarchist singer/songwriter, jazz trumpeter, poet and novelist Boris Vian was also extremely fond of z words in his work. The long drape jacket was also copied from zoot suits worn by the likes of Calloway. "The Zazous were very obviously detested by the Nazis, who on the other side of the Rhine, had [for] a long time decimated the German cultural avant garde, forbidden jazz and all visible signs of degenerations of Germanic culture " (Pierre Seel, who, as a young Zazou, was deported to a German concentration camp because of his homosexuality.) When the yellow star was forced on Jews, non Jews who objected began to wear yellow stars with "Zazu", "Goy" (Gentile) or "Swing".

Vichy had started "Youth Worksites" in July 1940, in what Zazous perceived as an attempt to indoctrinate French youth. As in 1870–1871, France reacted to her shattering defeat by reforming existing institutions and creating new ones. The Vichy regime was very concerned about the education, moral fibre and productivity of French youth. In 1940, a Ministry of Youth was established. They saw the Zazous as a rival and dangerous influence on youth. In 1940, 78 anti Zazou articles were published in the press, a further nine in 1941 and 38 in 1943. The Vichy papers deplored the moral turpitude and decadence that was affecting French morality. Zazous were seen as work shy, egotistical and Judeo Gaullist shirkers. By 1942, the Vichy regime realised that the national revival that they hoped would be carried out by young people under their guidance was seriously affected by widespread rejection of the patriotism, work ethic, self denial, asceticism and masculinity this called for. Soon, round ups began in bars and Zazous were beaten on the street. They became Enemy Number One of the fascist youth organisations, Jeunesse Populaire Française. "Scalp the Zazous!" became their slogan. Squads of young JPF fascists armed with hairclippers attacked Zazous. Many were arrested and sent to the countryside to work on the harvest. At this point the Zazous went underground, holing up in their dance halls and basement clubs. The Zazous were suspected by the official Communist resistance of having an apathetic, even flippant attitude to the war in general.

In 1986, the British duo Pet Shop Boys wrote a song about Zazou called "In the Night", which was the B side for the first single release of "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)". A remix was used as the theme music for the BBC programme The Clothes Show.