諾貝爾文學獎爲何會頒給這位民謠歌手

It doesn’t seem that US singer Bob Dylan has much in common with literary *mavens like Ernest Hemingway and T.S. Elliot. But, last week, these three figures became forever bonded by the Nobel Prize for Literature.

美國歌手鮑勃.迪倫與文學大家歐內斯特.海明威、T.S.艾略特似乎並沒有什麼共同之處。但是，就在上週，諾貝爾文學獎卻將這三人永久地聯繫在一起。

This year’s prize makes Dylan the first American since Toni Morrison in 1993 to win the title. At the same time, the surprise announcement has also *ignited a firestorm of discussion around the globe.

今年的獎項使迪倫成爲自1993年託妮.莫里森獲獎以來首位獲獎的美國人。與此同時，這一出人意料的結果也激起全球熱議。

Influential US writer Jodi Picoult joked that she might now deserve a Grammy. And well-known British-Indian novelist Hari Kunzru *lamented on social media by saying: “This feels like the lamest Nobel win since they gave it to Obama for not being Bush.”

極具影響力的美國作家茱迪.皮考特開玩笑說，她現在應該拿到格萊美獎。而著名英籍印度裔小說家哈里.昆茲魯也在社交媒體上抱怨道：“我感覺這是自評委會把諾貝爾和平獎頒給奧巴馬，而不是布什以來，最沒說服力的諾貝爾獎。”

Dylan’s new status–a musician awarded the Nobel Prize for literature–to a degree defies convention. However, this is by no means his first prize for his writing talents. Back in 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded Dylan a special citation “for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power”. In this *strand, it could be argued that what the Nobel Committee is doing is simply *reinforcing Dylan’s unshakable standing in the world of literature.

迪倫的新身份——獲得諾貝爾文學獎的音樂人——在某種程度上打破了常規。然而，這絕不是他靠寫作天賦所贏得的首個獎項。早在2008年，普利策獎評委會便授予了迪倫特別榮譽獎，“以示他對流行音樂和美國文化的深遠影響，他的歌詞創作中具有超凡的詩意力量”。在這一層面上，諾貝爾委員會現在所做的只不過是強化了迪倫在文學界中不可動搖的地位罷了。

The words behind Dylan’s songs address social issues and have been *transmitted from generation to generation. Protest songs like Blowin’ in the Wind (1962) were the anthems of anti-war and civil rights movements in 1960s US. Densely poetic and image-rich songs such as Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)pushed the folk-rock movement. And even today, many of Dylan’s songs are still relevant and streamed regularly by people all over the world.

迪倫的歌詞中披露了許多社會問題並被代代傳唱。他的抗議歌曲，如《在風中飄蕩》（1962）等，便是讚揚20世紀60年代美國反戰和民權運動的頌歌。《鈴鼓先生》(1965)等極富詩意與想象力的歌曲，則推動了搖滾民謠運動的發展。即使到了今天，迪倫的許多歌曲依然和現今社會息息相關，在世界各地廣爲流傳。

In a speech during the MusiCares pre-Grammy honors in 2015, Dylan revealed how he uses lyrics to document American culture and create an American songbook of his own. “I learned lyrics and how to write them from listening to folk songs,” said Dylan. “And I played them, and I met other people that played them, back when nobody was doing it.”

在2015年格萊美頒獎禮前夕的MusiCares 晚會上，迪倫在一次演講中透露了他如何用歌詞來記錄美國文化，並創造了一個屬於自己的美國歌集。“聽民謠令我學到了不少歌詞，並懂得了如何創作，”迪倫說道。“然後我開始演奏民謠，與同好接觸，當時並沒有多少人這樣做。”

There is nothing more honorable to win *acclaim from one’s competitors, but Dylan managed it. “From Orpheus to Faiz, song & poetry have been closely linked,” Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist also thought to have been a candidate for the prize, told The New York Times. “Dylan is the brilliant inheritor of the bardic tradition,” Rushdie added. “Great choice.”

沒什麼能比獲得對手的稱讚更值得令人敬佩的了，但迪倫卻做到了。“從俄耳甫斯到法伊茲，歌曲和詩歌都緊密相連，”諾貝爾文學獎候選人之一，印度小說家薩爾曼.魯西迪在接受《紐約時報》採訪時表示。“迪倫是詩歌傳統的傑出繼承者，”魯西迪補充道。“這是個無與倫比的選擇。”