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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016
Thread poster: Annamaria Amik
Annamaria Amik
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Oct 13, 2016

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/press.html

Bob Dylan
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan
"for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".


 
Dan Lucas
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Don't think twice it's alright Oct 13, 2016

Annamaria Amik wrote:
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYeXvG2ptwk


 
Vera Schoen
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For the times they are a-changin' Oct 13, 2016

Sorry, but I'm deeply disappointed by this year's price winner.
Good lyrics, but literature? Really?


 
Annamaria Amik
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Yeah... Oct 13, 2016

Vera Schoen wrote:

Sorry, but I'm deeply disappointed by this year's price winner.
Good lyrics, but literature? Really?


I have to agree... There are so many lyrical singers out there. I'm all for transcending the genres, but really, wasn't there any "traditional" author who created something memorable in the opinion of the esteemed Nobel committee?

Shouldn't a prize like this recognize excellence (or whatever name literary contribution today is called) and encourage authors to write as authors who undertake the risks and the responsibilities of writing, and not people who are active in other fields, especially those whose net worth comes from something else than their contribution to literature?


 
Vera Schoen
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Exactly... Oct 13, 2016

Annamaria Amik wrote:



Shouldn't a prize like this recognize excellence (or whatever name literary contribution today is called) and encourage authors to write as authors who undertake the risks and the responsibilities of writing, and not people who are active in other fields, especially those whose net worth comes from something else than their contribution to literature?


What about Joyce Carol Oates, Don DeLillo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Olga Tukarczuk, Kazuo Ishiguro, Adonis, Hilary Mantel, and, and ... Is Bob Dylan really a better author? Not in my book.


[Edited at 2016-10-13 13:11 GMT]


 
Dan Lucas
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In terms of lives affected... Oct 13, 2016

Vera Schoen wrote:
Is Bob Dylan really a better author? Not in my book (pun intended).

...Dylan probably beats them all. But is that the right yardstick on which to decide the award?

The people who decide this seem to be trying to a make a statement, but if they are, it's not a very clear one.

Dan


 
Annamaria Amik
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The list could go on... Oct 13, 2016

Vera Schoen wrote:
What about Joyce Carol Oates, Don DeLillo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Olga Tukarczuk, Kazuo Ishiguro, Adonis, Hilary Mantel, and, and ... Is Bob Dylan really a better author? Not in my book.


Or my current passion, Lyudmila Ulitskaya She's so ripe for a Nobel.
Oh well.

I'm almost certain Bob Dylan wouldn't have been so successful as a poet if he hadn't been a musician, as well. Obviously his music added something to his poems/lyrics, to the way his poems are received, something that falls outside the boundaries of literary writing as available to other writers who are not musically talented. An unfair advantage, if you ask me.


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
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Kazuo Ishiguro Oct 13, 2016

Vera Schoen wrote:
What about Joyce Carol Oates, Don DeLillo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Olga Tukarczuk, Kazuo Ishiguro, Adonis, Hilary Mantel, and, and ... Is Bob Dylan really a better author? Not in my book.

Agreed. Kazuo Ishiguro deserved the prize a dozen times more.

Is it possible that Nobel Prize jury members (in many categories, including Peace) are going senile?


 
Annamaria Amik
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Ha-ha Oct 13, 2016

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
Is it possible that Nobel Prize jury members (in many categories, including Peace) are going senile?


That's it! Aging does explain why they preferred someone whose work is mostly available in audio form.


 
Tom in London
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It is indeed possible Oct 13, 2016

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:

Vera Schoen wrote:
What about Joyce Carol Oates, Don DeLillo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Olga Tukarczuk, Kazuo Ishiguro, Adonis, Hilary Mantel, and, and ... Is Bob Dylan really a better author? Not in my book.

Agreed. Kazuo Ishiguro deserved the prize a dozen times more.

Is it possible that Nobel Prize jury members (in many categories, including Peace) are going senile?


It is indeed possible. There have been great moments in Dylan's songwriting (for me, two of the greatest are "Hard Rain"and "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"), but he is not a master of literature - American or otherwise.

I think they are going not for quality but for world publicity and sponsorship, to pay for their scandalous new building on the waterfront that will require the demolition of an important listed historic structure. Here's a link

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/controversy-over-eye-catching-new-nobel-center-roils-stockholm

And here's a YouTube video about it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpigW2zkZKA

[Edited at 2016-10-13 14:04 GMT]


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
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Reasons Oct 13, 2016

I read that Dylan snatched (sorry, "was granted") the Prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

Isn't that a quite cheesy reason? If they wanted to give the Prize to someone who truly made some revolutionary songwriting, they could have given it to Kate Bush for God's sake!


 
Vera Schoen
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The main issue Oct 13, 2016

in my opinion is that you cannot separate the artist from his texts, they simply aren't good enough on their own without the music and the artist. And isn't that what literature should be all about? That nothing comes between the text and the reader?

 
Lingua 5B
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At least... Oct 13, 2016

I can enjoy the winner's work in original (in English) without consuming the translation, as I never know how faithful it may or may not be.

He seems to be the first song writer to win the prize? They obviously needed to focus on a new form of expression in reference to the prize, to have something new and fresh.


 
Ilan Rubin (X)
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I think it's a joke Oct 13, 2016

Maybe Shakespeare should get a Grammy then?

***********************************************

Or if it has to go to a singer the Fish (from the original Marillion) is a much more worthy winner, e.g.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/marillion/the%20web_20088922.html


 
Annamaria Amik
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The traditional is slowly becoming eccentric... Oct 13, 2016

Lingua 5B wrote:
They obviously needed to focus on a new form of expression in reference to the prize, to have something new and fresh.


Of course, but lately this trend of "new forms of expression" has become so dominant that slowly the traditional forms will be the unusual and out-of-the-ordinary forms. Soon a writer who dares ignore genre-mixing will not be heard.

Just one example: one can barely find a trendy/bestselling author who writes conventional narratives these days. Nowadays everyone must experiment with multiple point-of-view storytelling. The more talented authors manage to create different voices (David Mitchell is a perfect example and everything he writes is a sheer delight), but most of them are just polyphonies by name.
Although, this may just be a reflection of how society has changed, there is no longer a major, mainstream narrative of life, no set values, etc.


 
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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016







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