“Beloved monster”

Abstract

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.