Bob Dylan –   Questions on Masculinity

Bob Dylan turned 80 in 2021, still active and still the subject of controversy. People love both to hate and to love the old songwriter, musician, artist, and Nobel Prize winner. Dylan is one of the world's biggest celebrities, a riddle who prefers to surprise rather than to live up to the expectations of the audience or the media. His songs have since long become classics in the songbooks of world literature, and questions on masculinity have been raised in relation to Dylan as a star and as an artist.

This seminar is inspired by the germinating discussions on gender and masculinity in Dylan’s songs, performance, artwork, and stardom.

We invite interested participants to submit proposals of 250-300 words.

Some of the topics we intend to focus on are Dylan's performance/s of masculinity throughout his career, male fandom, representations of masculinity in the lyrics and characters in the songs, representations of masculinity in Dylan's written and visual work, rural and urban masculinity in Dylan’s oeuvre, representations of masculinity in Dylan’s use of humor, the masculinity of Chronicles, The Philosophy of Modern Song, No Direction Home, Renaldo and Clara, Hearts of Fire, Masked and Anonymous, I’m Not There,  and the programs of “ Theme Time Radio Hour”.  

Place: University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

Time: May 23, 9.00 AM – May 24, 3. PM

Organizers:  Professor Anne-Marie Mai, University of Southern Denmark, Professor Erin Callahan, San Jacinto College.  

Please send in proposal for papers before December 1, 2023, to Anne-Marie Mai: ammai@sdu.dk or Erin Callahan: ecallaha@drew.edu

Invitations to accepted papers will be sent out February 1, 2024.

Conference fee: $150.