Sharing Dylan's Euphantasiotos Role in Francoist Spain in the Context of Commodified Culture

Alejandro Rodriguez de Jesus, Purdue University

Abstract

The transition of Folk music in the USA from the margins to notoriety, had its roots in the ‘leftist’ ideology of their proponents, and a message of communal solidarity, based on the ‘we’. The arrival of Bob Dylan in the 60s to an already recognized folk movement propelled him to global stardom, which made it possible for his music to permeate Spanish houses and songwriters’ circles. Dylan focused on the ‘you’ as a finger-pointing technique that questions his listener’s alliances. He had a revolutionary character that influenced songwriters both in the USA and Spain, whether through his lyrics or his rebellious rejection of any kind of pressure group. His lyrical content of vivid images placed before the eyes of the listeners (enargeia), captivated his audiences. Spanish songwriters, who at the same time received influence from France, or the social poets of the first half of the 20thCentury, among others, found in Dylan a valuable source to widespread a non-conformist message of freedom. They translated and reinterpreted some of Dylan’s protest songs, and in the case of Catalonia or Galicia, used their native languages as a symbol of defiance against the Francoist Government. Early Dylan and his counterparts in Spain became organic intellectuals as a bridge between the subalterns and the ruling bloc. They used epideictic discourses to put their audiences in questioning and decision-making positions. Their use of prosopopeia bestowed memory to those individuals who were wronged by the judiciary system in the USA and Spain; aiding in developing a counter-hegemonic discourse that placed them in the tradition of the euphantasiotos, who is as skilled in the ars of enargeia as in the ars of actio, as a poet and a performer.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Allert, Purdue University.

Subject Area

European Studies|Literature|Music|Political science

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