People like to reduce the blues to a handful of clichés and twelve bars. But in actual fact, behind the seemingly standardized surface of the sound, manifold forms of cultural use are concealed. Using extensive archival research, Michael Rauhut's comparison of the development of the blues in East and West Germany illustrates how social and political relations form the meaning of music. It shows that even if the sounds follow globally valid models and differences can barely be recognized, the contexts of meaning in which the blues is employed are thoroughly different. This study offers not just a historical summary of the blues, it also provides a contribution to the debate around globalization.
