The Punk, the Rebel, and the Cowboy

Abstract In Patti Smith’s memoirs, the cowboy figure first appears in Just Kids (2010). In M Train (2015), the cowboy manifests as a recurring character and holds multiple identities. As the memoirs progress, the cowboy’s figure adapts and metamorphoses to represent Smith’s imagination and different aspects of her identity. This chapter argues that Smith takes a conservative, masculine figure and usurps his mythical identity. The cowboy acts as a vessel for Smith to transcend consciousness. The cowboy represents the artist. Smith takes fragments of the cowboy’s identity and creates a new version that subverts patriarchal heteronormativity. Through art, Smith claims authority in male-dominated spaces therefore queers a masculine space. By using the existing masculine culture surrounding the cowboy, Smith tears it up and reattaches it to create a portal to her psyche.