“Bowiemythomania” as a Phenomenon of Pop Culture: Organic Hybridity and Special Temporality in Creative Work of David Bowie

Abstract

The article examines the features of constructing David Bowie’s mythology which has a pronounced hybrid character. The content analysis of D. Bowie’s works showed that he often used images that go back to classical mythological plots, and many popular songs and concepts of D. Bowie’s albums were created using mythologization mechanisms. The main creator of the myths was the performer himself, and the special mythological temporality constructed by the musician encompassed all modes of time, each of which could be correlated with a certain complex of myths. The specificity of such temporality in the case of D. Bowie was that it manifested itself in reverse chronological order: at the beginning of a career the future was mythologized, in the middle it was the present and at the end it was the past. Playing on various collisions of myth with reality and using the technique of myth reoccupation, D. Bowie demonstrated to the world all the creative power of “mythological reality”. It is noted that post-truth accompanied the musician’s career from the very beginning, contributing to the genuine disclosure of his talent. It is concluded that in relation to the heritage of D. Bowie, the term “hybrid mythology” acquires positive meaning. The singer manages to bring pop culture to a new level, giving rise to a phenomenon that we can call “bowiemythomania”.