Joan Baez: Poetry, Music and Activism.

Abstract

My dissertation aims to explore the half American and half Mexican folksinger Joan Baez during the 1960s and 1970s in America. Specifically, Joan Baez will be analyzed through three main elements: Music, Poetry and Social Activism. Moreover, this dissertation will be analysing Joan Baez’s 1968 album of Poetry "Baptism: A Journey Through Our Time", Baez’s long ballad "Where are you now, my son?" and some of her "Childs ballads". Firstly, I will introduce the historical, political and social background in which Joan Baez lived during the 1960s in America. In particular, some notions about the 1960s Folk Music and the Civil Rights Movement will be given. In such a background, then, the figure of Joan Baez will be introduced by the help of her first autobiography "Daybreak" and her second memoir "And a Voice To Sing With". Furthermore, the American folksinger will be explored in her relationships with music, activism and literature.