The Cry of the Body Without Organs: a Schizoanalysis of Ed Bland's Critical Race Theory of Jazz

Abstract

Through an analysis of the film The Cry of Jazz, the Afro-Futurism of Ed Bland is contrasted with the schizoanalysis of Deleuze and Guattari to demonstrate both the application of schizoanalysis to jazz theory and the application of Afro-Futurism to schizoanalysis. In the first part, Bland’s critical race theory of jazz is outlined through the dialogue provided by the protagonist Alex in The Cry of Jazz demonstrating the dialectical Hegelianism of Bland’s analysis. Bland’s theory of jazz is sifted through a reading of Deleuze’s Difference and Repetition as a critique of Hegelianism. Through an elaboration of jazz theory,the Deleuzian concepts of difference and repetition develop further Bland’s jazz theory leading to the death of jazz and the potential becoming of a new America. The survival of the spirit of jazz after death is demonstrated through the body without organs. Here, Bland’s Afro-Futurist critical race theory comes into focus as a pure affectivity that decomposes the boundaries of musicality and the social condition simultaneously.