Can and Kraftwerk and National Identity

Since I write academic texts I try to find arguments. The argument I've developed so far over two academic articles -- one accepted and one submitted -- connects Krautrock with questions about German identity. Krautrock oftentimes is an attempt to develop a new/different German national identity from the "rubble" of World War II. If we take some of the best known groups, we can see how this is done differently but with a similar goal. The goal is to move away from the Nazi past. Kraftwerk do this by ironically playing up their German identity -- they are the robots.


Can had a different strategy. They employed an African American and then a Japanese singer (Damo Suzuki). They incorporated elements of music from around the world. They confronted the German past through becoming international.


Both Can and Kraftwerk moved away from blues-based African American and Anglo American music. This is also true for Neu!, of whom I have a lot more to say soon.