“Diamond Dogs” by D. Bowie as a work of science fiction

Abstract

The album “Diamond Dogs” by British musician David Bowie is analyzed in the article as an experimental poetic cycle. Originally conceived as a musical adaptation of G. Orwell’s “1984”, the album is a science fiction work involving multiple literary allusions. “Diamond Dogs” as a musical album is analyzed from the point of view of a direct analogy with the lyrical cycle, which has internal unity, but combines heterogeneous elements. Fragmentation and understatement are used as a way to expand the artistic universe of the album. In addition to Orwell’s novel, an important role in the narrative of the album “Diamond Dogs” is played by references to A. Burgess’s dystopian “A Clockwork Orange”, which had a great influence on Bowie’s image system of that time, as well as the novel “Wild Boys” by W.S. Burroughs, the plot and the imagery of which are woven into the artistic fabric of the album. The plots and zongs from B. Brecht and K. Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera” also give the album a special aesthetics, particularly if one bears in mind the broader context of the musical theater media in which Bowie sought to place his work.