Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and the Movement Persona

Abstract

Using Aristotle’s concept of ethos and Edwin Black’s theory of the second persona, this thesis discusses how the personas of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger contribute to the movement persona of those fighting for social change in 1960s America. A textual analysis of three songs of Bob Dylan and three songs of Pete Seeger serve as the artifacts for this thesis. Themes of change, resistance, and rootlessness run throughout Bob Dylan’s songs while themes of community, empowerment, and transcendence appear in the music of Pete Seeger. The themes contribute to the creation of the movement persona and imply a persona for the audience that the movement adopts and adapts for their own purposes. Therefore, the audience, Seeger, and Dylan are all authors of the movement persona, and the musical form assists in allowing multiple authors of the movement persona.