Bob Dylan's Voice. The Inevitable Connection Between Identity and Voice

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, language: English, abstract: Bob Dylan is a singer who is strongly defined by means of his voice. The voice is on the one hand meant to be an expedient, a medium of interpretation, a servant of the work, an organ of technique and an impression of the soul. On the other hand, with regard to the mental level, it is also a medium of ineradicable individuality, an impression of the gender and a boundary phenomenon between body and spirit that cannot be subordinated to a rational subject. In terms of Bob Dylan this view comes true as his the input of voice plays an important role with regard to his performance on stage, relationship towards his audience and identity. He is the first singer where pronunciation and articulation hold a constitutive significance.

For this reason, this term paper first has a closer look on Bob Dylan's public image, the different ways he used his voice and the peoples' perception with regard to that. After that an analysis of Dylan's voice is presented by using the song "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" as an example. The last part of the paper will be another analysis, this time in view of the album "Blood on the Tracks" which is said to be Dylan's greatest work though it also has deficiencies.