Bob Dylan Lyrics Versus the Academics: the Inadequacy of the Prominent Academic Approaches in Studying Bob Dylan's Song Lyrics

To the hope of many and the disgust of some, a group of academics has, from 1996 onwards, yearly sent in a Nobel Prize nomination for Bob Dylan, nominating him to be rewarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Thirteen years later, Dylan has not yet received the Nobel; Bob Dylan could not care less. In contrast to Bob Dylan's never-ending stoicism, however, the nomination revived the ongoing Dylan debate about Dylan's canonical status in the academic world; Does Bob Dylan deserve the Nobel Prize in Literature? Is Bob Dylan's art literature? Is Bob Dylan a poet? Is Bob Dylan high culture or mere pop culture? In the currently expanding field of literary Dylan Studies, there is the, logical, tendency to study Dylan's songs from a textual perspective. In these analyses however, Dylan's song lyrics are treated as mere words, text, entirely leaving his music out of the academic discussion. In this book, Frank Bond provides a critical look into the most prominent academic approaches to Dylan's lyrics, and subsequently proposes a more productive and adequate analysis which also incorporates the musical elements of Dylan's song lyrics.