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Article published In:
Narrative Inquiry
Vol. 32:2 (2022) ► pp.270–288

“Beloved monster”

A narrative inquiry into autobiographical writings of Frida Kahlo

ORCID logo | ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece
| ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece
| ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece
| ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece
| ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece
| ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece
| ‘Logo Psychis’- Training and Research Institute for Systemic Psychotherapy, Greece

This psychobiography study looks into one aspect of Frida Kahlo’s life, her relationship with Diego Rivera. It attempts to solve the puzzle of how Frida managed to reconcile her dedication to Diego, whose behavior was hurtful, with her rebellious character and ideology. Adopting a narrative/dialogical theoretical lens and employing the narrative inquiry method of languages of the unsayable that analyses narrative form, we examined her essay Portrait of Diego. We triangulated findings with letters, diary and paintings. We found that Frida used languages of the unsayable as narrative strategies to manage inner conflict and reconcile dedication with character and ideology. She kept voices of anger and resentment from gaining strength, and downplayed their emotional impact in favor of voices of devotion and despair. The findings point to the importance of looking into both the form and content of autobiographical narratives. Limitations and clinical implications of the study are discussed.

Keywords: psychobiography, Frida Kahlo, narrative/dialogic lens, languages of the unsayable
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • A narrative/dialogical theory lens
    • Solving a psychobiography puzzle
  • The present study
    • Aim
    • Researchers
  • Method
    • Languages of the Unsayable
    • Materials
    • Ethical and validity issues
    • Narrative analysis
  • Findings
    • The essay
      • Diego’s shape
      • Diego’s personality
      • Frida’s role
      • Their relationship
    • The letters
      • Letter to Ella and Bertram Wolfe (1934)
      • Letter to Diego (1935)
    • The diary
    • The paintings
  • Discussion
    • Clinical implications
    • Reflexivity and study limitations
  • References
Published online: 22 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.20134.and
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