Politics of the Portrait of the Self in Bob Dylan‟s Chronicles Volume One
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Authors
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Department of English
Abstract
The current research analyzes the twist and turn of the „identity‟ of the
biggest living musical artist Bob Dylan in his book Chronicles volume one. It attempts
to investigate the mystery behind his multiple images, his hidden intention and aims to
resolve the curiosity posed on his puzzled behavior in order to confirm and reveal his
true self. The doppelganger nature of Dylan‟s character in Chronicles has evoked
deep thirst on the researcher to explore the kind of self portrayal strategy chosen by
the artist. Hence, the researcher argues on Bob Dylan‟s intention in Chronicles which
is comprised of a strategy to subdue his identity crisis by applying his own version of
self portrayal strategy. The researcher uses Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson idea of
autobiography and Suzette A. Henke notion of Scriptotherapy, Linda Anderson‟s
notion of autobiography and Paul Ricoeurs idea of hermaneutics of self. As a result:
the researcher comes up with following key findings: An artist should not be confined
and fixed on the basis of an absolute image and value; their space and privacy must
be valued; politics behind portrait of Dylan‟s self is for the purpose of self healing,
enlightening, motivating, awareness and surviving mainstreams culture.
Keywords: self, identity, ambivalent, mainstream culture; grand narratives; space;
multiplicity; voice of generation