CHAPTER 5 The Visual Dylan
Religious Art, Social Semiotics and Album Covers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20060476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Geir Winje (University of Oslo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Pages | 141-161 |
| Publication date | 2019-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | A God of Time and Space (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Cappelen Damm Akademisk/NOASP (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.23865/noasp.74.ch5 |
| OpenAlex | W2983892970 |
| ISBN | 9788202660086 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
The essay explores the cover art on 24 studio albums released by Bob Dylan since his debut in 1962, each one with a photo of the artist on the front cover. The photos are read chronologically in accordance with a social semiotic understanding. Any text, including such elements as names, album titles, song titles and motifs, but also formal means, e.g. compositions and geometric patterns underlying the compositions, are understood as meaningful utterances in their own right, not only as illustrations for other texts. The essay also maps out some parallels between the idol as a mediated person belonging to modernity and as a premodern religious concept. A not surprising finding is that parts of early Christian icon art are continued in modern photographic portraits. However, I have not found anything indicating that traces of early religious art are more prominent on Bob Dylan’s albums than on other albums
Art · Art history · Icon · Linguistics · Literature · Painting · Parallels · Portrait · Semiotics · Visual arts · Media, Communication, and Education · Music History and Culture · Philosophy · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Highly cited | No |
|---|