A decision that turned quite a few heads – the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature was given to the 1960’s songwriter and musician, Bob Dylan.
Bob Dylan is an American which is a further cause of surprise as the Nobel in Literature, hasn’t been bagged by an American in a long time. The announcement, which was the last of Nobel’s for this year, has certainly come with its share of criticism and applause. People all over the world are opinioning about how this is a wonderful thing to happen – a musician winning this award for the first time, to critics firing at the Swedish Academy for daring to put Bob on the same pedestal as renowned writers.
The Swedish Academy’s permanent secretary, Sara Danius, said Dylan, 75, “is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition, having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Now it is true that Dylan revolutionized the rebel music back in the 1950s. His songs were the choice pick for any civil rights or anti-war moments. There are certainly a lot of people who think that Dylan’s song are intellectually challenging and complex on many levels. This could certainly be said about some of his works like Blowin’ in the Wind, Like a Rolling Stone, The Times they are a-changing, etc. But is he really on par with say Sappho or Homer? That is the debate in question.
Bob Dylan has, however, won many a hearts with his poetic renditions through which he has referenced Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine and Ezra Pound. He has actually also published poetry and prose, including his 1971 collection, “Tarantula,” and “Chronicles: Volume One,” a memoir published in 2004. Infact, the Oxford Book of American Poetry included his song “Desolation Row,” in its 2006 edition, and Cambridge University Press released “The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan” in 2009, further cementing his reputation as a brilliant literary stylist.
Whether worthy or not, this is certainly a pleasant if not brilliant turn of events and we congratulate the electric guitarist on the honors. Bob was unavailable for comment due to being tied up at a performance elsewhere.
