ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 examines the relationship between The Motorcycle Diaries and Guevara’s personal account of the journey. The interest in his travel notes and personal correspondence is set against the background of a biographical turn in the literature on Guevara, which reflects a changing ideological context, particularly with respect to the Cuban Revolution. It is argued that Salles’ interventions with respect to the historical sources correspond to a strategic recentring of Guevara’s life narrative. The second part of this chapter zooms in on the visual representation of Che in The Motorcycle Diaries and its relation to Che’s most iconic picture, Korda’s Heroic Guerrilla . A final section discusses the impact of Salles’ deliberate ‘rejuvenation’ of the historic Guevara with respect to his influence as a transnational icon of dissent for youngsters in the 1960s and 1970s.
