The Swedish Academy's decision to award Bob Dylan its 2016 Nobel Prize in literature has provoked surprise, criticism, and derision in some literary quarters – as the academy seems to have sensed it would. Certainly, there was a wariness around the announcement – not surprisingly, since Mr Dylan is the first musician to have been awarded a Nobel prize in literature.
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The academy's citation read: "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition", and when academy permanent secretary Sara Danius was asked later by a reporter about whether Mr Dylan really deserved the prize, she responded by saying "of course. He is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition". Professor Danius went on to laud Mr Dylan as "a wonderful sampler, a very original sampler" – an assessment that in musical terms at least is not entirely flattering.
Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh reacted in less uncertain terms, calling it "an ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies", while best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult posted on Twitter "I'm happy for Bob Dylan, #ButDoesThisMeanICanWinAGrammy?".
Mr Dylan's fans will respond that, if musically good enough, Ms Picoult can certainly win a Grammy Award. And they would be right to dismiss Mr Irvine's characterisation of the academy members as a bunch of sentimental Baby Boomers as just an attempt to deliver a memorable put-down.
The question of whether song-writing, and specifically song lyrics, can be considered the artistic equivalent of poetry or novels (and therefore the province of award committees like the Swedish Academy) is the more interesting aspect of this debate. Then there is the equally contentious argument as to how far Mr Dylan's literary gifts extend.
The theory that he is the most distinctly poetical of all the modern singer-songwriters enjoys wide popular acceptance. He has been the subject of academic essays, films and documentaries, though many of these have dwelled less on his literary gifts and more on his impact as a troubadour of protest and "the musical voice of a generation".
Characteristic of Mr Dylan's song-writing is a love of punning, word play, and strong imagery. Fans (some of whom verge on the obsessive) and friendly critics would argue there is a spiritual dimension to his work that lifts it far beyond the territory that rock and folk singers usually occupy.
More agnostic-minded observers argue his lyrics work better when heard on stereo speakers than when studied on the page, and that as such they are closer to popular song than to high poetry. But few would downplay the uniqueness of Dylan's creative vision over a long career – one that has encompassed often quite radical changes in musical style and direction. Even his oft-derided delivery, now reduced almost to a rasp, is uniquely expressive.
If Mr Dylan's words and music are sometimes derided as as appealing only to nerdish Baby Boomers, the more discerning view is that his is a distinctive artistic voice. The Nobel Prize is a validation of that assessment.
