The article examines the relationship between the author, a character, and a persona in D. Bowie’s concept album “Station to Station” (1976). The album is viewed in the context of Bowie’s work on the creation of an innovative poetic text, where turning to multimedia means expanding the space of the poetic word. Bowie’s poetry of the 70s is concentrated around the image of a “persona” as a special kind of lyrical subject, inseparable from the author, which is a mouthpiece for conceptual and aesthetic intentions. The poetic “persona” is found in the center of the album “Station to Station”, which can be interpreted as an innovative poetic cycle with a unique artistic cohesion. The narrative of this concept album is organized around the conflict between the artist hero and his doppelganger persona, the Thin White Duke. Bowie uses the novelty and experimentation of his poetic expression to blur the lines between the two characters projected through his own figure, adding a special tension to the dramatic component of the album. The article analyzes numerous cultural, literary and philosophical references that construct the image of the Duke and accentuates the problematics of the album.
For citation:
Tyulin D.A. “Station to Station”: artist and persona in D. Bowie’s poetic system, Ivanovo State University Bulletin. Series: Humanities, 2022, iss. 1, pp. 75—84.