Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature over the likes of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and US novelist Philip Roth. The decision, the first time a singer-songwriter has been honored, was welcomed as “cool” by Dylan’s fans and music aficionados, and seen by some literati on social media as an inexplicable dumbing down.Here are some arguments in favor of Dylan, 75, and his work.1: Poetic expressionsThe prize committee explained the choice in a statement. Dylan was honored “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Sara Danius of the Swedish Academy said he was “a great poet in the English speaking tradition.”2: Lyrics and poetryThe best argument in Dylan’s favor is the quality of his classic lyrics. He has been widely acclaimed as the voice of his generation and the finest living songwriter, outdoing the likes of Paul McCartney with his insight and breadth.Many critics agree that not all lyrics work as written poetry. Still, there is agreement that the best are poetic in the best tradition. Every Dylan scholar has their favorite. “Positively Fourth Street,” “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and “Highway 61 Revisited” are just three. “Desolation Row” has been endlessly compared with epic poetry.3: Glittering prizesDylan has already won a raft of other glittering prizes, some not usually awarded to musicians. They include the Prince of Asturias Award in 2007, a Pulitzer Prize in 2008, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. He has also won 12 Grammy Awards and an Oscar.4: As an authorWhile few would rate Dylan’s stream-of-consciousness experimental “novel” of 1966 “Tarantula” as a work of the highest quality, he won a little more praise for the first volume of a planned autobiography, “Chronicles,” which has since been compared to Patti Smith’s acclaimed memoirs. Still literature’s influence on Dylan has been more profound – even if he did not take his stage name from Dylan Thomas, as often reported. His influence on literature has been more significant.5: Not an award for everythingThe Nobel committee has homed in on some aspects of Dylan, so those critics of the choice should reconsider if they suggest it is for the primitive drawings in his books, Dylan’s singing abilities or some of his lesser works in a huge oeuvre. The man who wrote “Like a Rolling Stone” also knocked out tunes such as “Odds and Ends”, “Quinn the Eskimo” and “Apple Suckling Tree.” They may be pedestrian, but so much else is sublime.6: Political consciousness“Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” were both credited with helping to set a new political agenda in the US. Agree with the sentiments or not, their poetry touches on universal themes that will outlive the zeitgeist of the times they were created.7: New formsThe decision is long overdue recognition of the merits of rock, pop and folk.Not everyone is happy. “Trainspotting” author Irvine Welsh wrote on Twitter: “I’m a Dylan fan, but this is an ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies.”Still, novelist Salman Rushdie said: “Dylan is the brilliant inheritor of the bardic tradition. Great choice.”8: Let the words speak for themselvesDylan is used to receiving bouquets and brickbats. He can still articulate both better than most: “And I’ll tell and speak it and think it and breathe it/ And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it/ And I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’/ But I'll know my song well before I start singing/ And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it's a hard/ It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.”
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