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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

nobelprize.org

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Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#101

Post by pjmorris »

I love how so many on the thread have Dylan lyrics to contribute. Seems like empirical evidence for his impact. I listened obsessively to every shred of Dylan I could lay my hands on when I was a teenager.

With apologies to Bob Dylan...

Then she opened up a book of poems

And handed it to me

Written by an American poet

From the twentieth century

And everyone of them words rang true

And glowed like burnin' coal

Pourin' off of every page

Like it was written in my soul

From me to you

Tangled up in blue

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#102

Post by jhbadger »

4ad wrote: post #87
sfifs wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the lyrics by themselves don't have anything like the impact (on me at least) of top-notch poetry To you they don't, to me and others they do. To the current Nobel committee they did this year. At the end, Nobel prizes are highly subjective and people dependent recognitions - so arguments of the form of X deserves and Y does not are not too meaningful.

> Nobel prizes are highly subjective Literature and Peace, yes. Science? No. People will disagree on whether some person who didn't get the price really should have gotten it, but no scientist disputes the value and importance of the work of the people who did get the prize. In science, perhaps there are people who should have gotten the Nobel prize but they didn't. However, few people would say that the people who d…

Even in science there is a fair amount of subjectivity to the prizes. It was fairly questionable to give a Nobel to Kary Mullis for PCR, for example (the technique is certainly useful, but maybe not that deep scientifically and Mullis is kind of a nutjob who has used his fame to promote pseudoscience), not to mention prizes to work that hasn't held up well -- frontal lobotomies are not considered a great solution to mental illness anymore despite Egas Moniz's 1949 prize for it.

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#104

Post by qwertyuiop924 »

hiou wrote: post #92
dekhn wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generic? Pop? Hmm, I think you must be trolling.

The music industry packaged up singers like Dylan for whichever vertical they needed. Anyone who was able to navigate that system as successfully as he did was certainly not a rebel and the music itself was nothing extraordinarily unique if you look into the long tail of music being made at the time. It's like saying 7-Up is the uncola and you are rejecting the establishment by drinking it instead of Coke.

>The music industry packaged up singers like Dylan for whichever vertical they needed.

What singers like Dylan? Have you ever listened to him? His voice is... not exactly a common sound.

>the music itself was nothing extraordinarily unique if you look into the long tail of music being made at the time.

No music is entirely unique. But some people do it better than others, add their own twists, and build something unique.

>It's like saying 7-Up is the uncola and you are rejecting the establishment by drinking it instead of Coke.

Frankly, he's no longer anti-esblishment, if he ever was. But that doesn't mean he's a talentless hack, which seems to be what you're claiming.

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#105

Post by nathancahill »

giarc wrote: post #96
nathancahill wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears Bury the rag deep in your face For now's the time for your tears

Great song - for those wondering, it is The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol by Bob Dylan. I think the lyrics are more powerful in context of the rest of the song[0]. 0- https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tjwyq4ppzw6s7xatkamydg...

NPR(?) did an excellent analysis of the lyrics and rhymes in the song a while ago, but I can't find the episode.

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#106

Post by dagw »

kriro wrote: post #64
coldtea wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no doubt he did this, but ... do songs count as literature? They should. Literature and poetry started from rhapsodies, sagas, and other forms of song-based storytelling, and it's not very good that it diverted so much to some kind of literary ivory tower.

I'm curious. Should screenplays also be eligible for the nobel in literature?

Playwrights have won several times. The problem with screenplays, as they exist today, is that they basically never really have 'an author' in the traditional sense.

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#107

Post by irb »

georgespencer wrote: post #73
kriro wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious. Should screenplays also be eligible for the nobel in literature?

And should novels be eligible for songwriting awards?

I think the contention is that lyrics and novels are non-overlapping subsets of literature.

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#110

Post by elcapitan »

ekianjo wrote: post #40
jcrei wrote: post #5

Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon For the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's namin' For the loser now Will be later to win For the times they are a-changin'.

The rebel became part of the institution in the end. Somewhat sad if you ask me.

Well he hasn't accepted the award yet ;)
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