Quote:
Originally Posted by Krazykiwi
I'm from New Zealand actually, I rather think my perspective is more "Oh my gosh, there are a bunch of other perspectives out there that aren't exactly the same as the ones I was raised in, and boy are some of them weird and hard to understand - but that doesn't make them wrong."
But Canadian is American, no? (But I can admit I thought you were from the US, my bad 
It doesn't matter who's heard of the Svenska Akadamien: They are the people who have awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature every year there has been one, and they really have the only opinion that matters on the issue.
If they make a habit of giving it to people who the majority of the world feel don't deserve it, then the majority of the world will simply deem the Nobel irrelevant and ignore it I guess.
That would be a ridiculously silly statement, which is likely why it's got absolutely nothing to do with what I said. What I did say, was that Chinese Opera is considered part of the spectrum of dramatic poetry. How popular it is, or is not, and where, was your topic. I was simply pointing out that poetic forms as performance art involving music is far a fairly widespread tradition. Widespread, not popular. For that matter, "literature" isn't as popular as the latest Hollywood Blockbuster either, so once again I'm confused what your argument is.
How many people go to see something performed has little to do with what the something is. Relatively few people go to see opera or independent theatre, but most people can still identify them as music and drama respectively.
In any case, Dylan has finally broken his silence and will probably be in Stockholm in November, accepting that irrelevant award from those dudes (and dudettes) you've never heard of. So we can go on arguing this until the tenth of never and it won't change a darn thing. |
Canadian is not the same as American. Different culture, different political system, different people. That may be a New Zealand perspective, just as the perspective of many people is that New Zealand is pretty much the same as Australia. But there is no doubt that US culture. good and bad, has had more influence in the world than the culture of any other country for some time now.
Whether or not the Nobel Prizes or any other such prizes are relevant or irrevalent doesn't matter; no doubt many people think they are and many people do not. When it comes to something like a discovery in physics or medicine it is much different than literature or a "peace prize" which are subjective and the opinions of the people who make the selection. Of course everybody has different opinions (the ones who are able to think for themselves, that is). There are all kinds of "awards" for something or other, my favorites in Canada and the USA are small, closed circles of members of print and broadcast media presenting awards to each other and telling each other and themselves what great journalists and reporters they are.
Many Nobel Prize selections have been puzzling to me, such as Barack Obama winning the Peace Prize when he had done absolutely nothing to deserve it. Why, was the reason political or was it wishful thinking? Don't ask me, I don't know.
When it comes to the Nobel Prize for literature, I have read many of the works of winners, some I liked and some I did not. To my mind, most of the winners deserved the prize, some did not (Pearl S. Buck?). A few times winning a Nobel Prize for literature encouraged me to read their works if I hadn't. But I won't be rushing out to buy a book of Bob Dylan's song lyrics or poems or whatever you might want to call them (if there is even such a book available). In my opinion they are not worthy of a Nobel Prize for literature.