Folksinger and Beat poet: The prophetic vision of Bob Dylan

This study examines the four albums released by Dylan during his so-called born-again period --Slow Train Coming, Saved, Shot of Love, and Infidels--tracing the dominant literary traditions which influence Dylan\u27s work: folksong and Beat poetry. Dylan\u27s untraditional canon and open-form text are discussed, followed by literary analysis of Dylan\u27s traditional folksongs (from 1962-1964), his imagistic songs (from mid-1964-1967), and his ostensible born-again songs (from 1979-1983). Dylan is treated as a prophetic writer who, like his literary-prophetic forebears Woody Guthrie and Alan Ginsberg, addresses social and religious concerns and presents a vision of radical individualism