[The Soup Nazi]

 

Why am I the first one posting about this? It was announced this morning in Europe, so basically half a day ago. Pre-emptive strike against the Dylanphobes on this board: and everything you stand for.

https://www.nobelprize.org/

https://news.google.com/news/rtc?ncl=doprDkWSqeoR_pMkeig8wKayeP64M&authuser=0&t opic=h&siidp=711759eb721425852779a955bf73798524aa

[Rob Instigator]

What LITERATURE did he write?

[evollove]

In and of itself, I say sure. Why not? The fact that he's the first american to win since Toni Morrison sticks my craw. Delillo would've made more sense, to name just one.

He's had poems on his lp sleeves, tarantula, chronicles. His lyrics have been in book form for years and is periodically updated. A surprising win but not really that big a stretch.

Damn. Dude made history yet again.

[Rob Instigator]

But what did he write in 2015-2016? The Nobel is not supposed to be a cumulative prize.

[evollove]

Literature is usually cumulative. The whole damn thing. Not sure about other categories.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

But what did he write in 2015-2016? The Nobel is not supposed to be a cumulative prize.

That's... nowhere in the "manual". From Wikipedia:

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature (Swedish: Nobelpriset i litteratur) has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction" (original Swedish: den som inom litteraturen har producerat det mest framstående verket i en idealisk riktning). Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, here "work" refers to an author's work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize in any given year.

Consequently, the press release explains he receives it "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". After the announcement, Professor Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, expanded on the reasons behind their decision saying Dylan "has been at it for 54 years, reinventing himself constantly".

If you want your literature printed-only, here you go:

Bibliography – a selection

Works in English


Bob Dylan Song Book. – New York : M. Witmark, 1965

Bob Dylan Himself : His Words, His Music. – London : Duchess, 1965

Bob Dylan : A Collection. – New York : M. Witmark, 1966

Bob Dylan : The Original. – Warner Bros.- Seven Arts Music, 1968

Tarantula. – New York : Macmillan, 1971

Poem to Joanie / with an introduction by A. J. Weberman. – London : Aloes Seola, 1971

Writings and Drawings. – New York : Knopf, 1973

The Songs of Bob Dylan : From 1966 through 1975. – New York : Knopf, 1976

Lyrics, 1962-1985. – New York : Knopf, 1985

Bob Dylan Anthology. – New York : Amsco, 1990

Drawn Blank. – New York : Random House, 1994

Lyrics, 1962-1996. – New York : Villard, 1997

Lyrics, 1962-1999. – New York : Knopf, 1999

Man Gave Names to All the Animals / illustrated by Scott Menchin. – San Diego, Calif. : Harcourt Brace, 1999

The Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook. – New York : Amsco, 2001

Lyrics : 1962-2001. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2004

Chronicles : Volume One. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2004

Bob Dylan : The Drawn Blank Series / edited by Ingrid Mössinger and Kerstin Drechsel. – New York : Prestel, 2007

Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric : The Lost Manuscript / photographs by Barry Feinstein. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2008

Lyrics / edited by Heinrich Detering. – Stuttgart : Reclam, 2008

Forever Young / illustrated by Paul Rogers. – New York : Atheneum, 2008

Bob Dylan : The Brazil Series. – New York : Prestel, 2010

Man Gave Names to All the Animals / illustrated by Jim Arnosky. – New York : Sterling, 2010

Blowin’ in The Wind / illustrated by Jon J. Muth. – New York : Sterling, 2011

Bob Dylan : The Asia Series. – New York : Gagosian Gallery, 2011

Revisionist Art. – New York : Gagosian Gallery, 2012

Bob Dylan : Face Value / text by John Elderfield. – London : National Portrait Gallery, 2013

If Dogs Run Free / illustrated by Scott Campbell. – New York : Atheneum, 2013

The Lyrics : Since 1962 / edited by Christopher Ricks, Lisa Nemrow and Julie Nemrow. – New York : Simon & Schuster, 2014

If Not for You / illustrated by David Walker . – New York : Atheneum, 2016

[Rob Instigator]

Good for him then.

I have always argued that good lyrics are poetry.

which is why Kim Gordon will never get a Nobel for Contre le Sexism....

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

personally I think this is some lame nostalgia shit.. I have never heard a Dylan cover I didn't like even though I never heard a Dylan original I could tolerate for more than thirty seconds BUT this all feels like some lame, washed up, nostalgia trip on the part of the Nobel folks.

I totally get that yes the Literature Prize is generally a cumulative award, more or less a "Lifetime achievement" kind of thing, BUT with Dylan this feels somewhat feigned.

Dylan deserves his name in the American cultural pantheon, but this feels rather cheap. Same with the Presidential medal in 2012, I mean Dylan cut his teeth as a PROTEST singer and now he gets all this recognition from the establishment??

I know I probably sound sooooo hypocritical having just praised the Grateful Dead for keeping it going after 50 years but this recent trend of hero worship of rock star has-beens is getting pathetic frankly..

at least in the 60s when all the bluesmen were rushed out of obscurity and poverty by the new wave of blues revival it was paying homage to an honestly forgotten group of musical pioneers who had never really had the appreciation they deserved, with the way the old geezer rock stars have been getting critical praise and popular support to me feels like overkill, I mean its not like Dylan or Paul McCartney were ever lacking praise at the respective heights of their careers..

[pepper_green]

^^ SOY BOMB!!!

I guess he thought it was lame too.

[The Soup Nazi]

 

Y'know, I knew Bob would send a chick to the Nobel ceremony — either Patti or Scarlett Johansson. From thecurrent.org:

On Saturday in Stockholm, Bob Dylan became the first person ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for popular music lyrics. Dylan himself did not attend the ceremony — he cited preexisting commitments, but his specific whereabouts were unknown — and Patti Smith appeared on his behalf to sing the classic "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" accompanied by a string section. She had to stop and restart the performance after missing some lyrics due to, she said, nervousness; but when she finished, many in the hall were in tears.

 

Patti's performance on YouTube

Dylan's acceptance speech from nobelprize.org:

Banquet speech by Bob Dylan given by the United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji, at the Nobel Banquet, 10 December 2016.

Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.

I'm sorry I can't be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I've been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.

I don't know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It's probably buried so deep that they don't even know it's there.

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn't anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.

I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn't have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I'm sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: "Who're the right actors for these roles?" "How should this be staged?" "Do I really want to set this in Denmark?" His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. "Is the financing in place?" "Are there enough good seats for my patrons?" "Where am I going to get a human skull?" I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare's mind was the question "Is this literature?"

When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium. If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind. Making records and hearing your songs on the radio meant that you were reaching a big audience and that you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.

Well, I've been doing what I set out to do for a long time, now. I've made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world. But it's my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures and I'm grateful for that.

But there's one thing I must say. As a performer I've played for 50,000 people and I've played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me.

But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life's mundane matters. "Who are the best musicians for these songs?" "Am I recording in the right studio?" "Is this song in the right key?" Some things never change, even in 400 years.

Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, "Are my songs literature?"

So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.

My best wishes to you all,

Bob Dylan

[ilduclo]

in a way, not surprised. He's a very safe pick. Since there are so many excellent but unrecognized writers, I think it's an unfortunate pick, like putting money on Irad Ortiz, or what?

[CharlizeD]

The more I think about it, the better it is. This a great and brave choice by the academy. No, Bob Dylan is not an author in the traditional sense, nor is he the traditional poet, but you cannot ignore him if you are to study 20th century literature in the broad sense. By opening the door for Dylan, I think that the academy has clearly shown that literature takes place in movies, in music, in computer games etc.
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