“He has the whole package: lyrics, melodies, enigmatic, mythical”

Images of Bob Dylan – Results of Questionnaire

Abstract

It is  obvious from public comments about Dylan’s albums and books that his fans and followers have strong feelings about the artist and his songs and that they have often used his songs in different ways. We wanted to explore these images and uses of his songs and asked questions that were designed to reveal the respondents’ thoughts and opinions on Bob Dylan as an artist and how they have used his songs in decisive moments of their lives.

In 2022, we conducted a questionnaire survey to explore Bob Dylan’s image as perceived by his fans and followers. This Dylan questionnaire was part of the research project Uses of Literature (2016–2022, PIs Anne-Marie Mai and Rita Felski, Danish National Research Foundation). In this paper, we analyze the received responses.

Most of the respondents are male, ranging in age from 65 to 70, and the results of this questionnaire give us a picture of Dylan as a male artist appreciated by males. This is important and interesting because it means that the study of Dylan’s songs might help us to get a better understanding of a certain 1950s generation of males and their understanding of the relation between art and life.