Politics of the Portrait of the Self in Bob Dylan‟s Chronicles Volume One

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