BOB DYLAN’S PERFORMANCE ARTISTRY: COLLOQUIUM IN CAEN (FRANCE), 10-12 MARCH 2005
Report by Christopher Rollason
Bob Dylan conferences have been a rarity in the academic environment, and, unless the author of this report is mistaken, until now none had ever been held outside the English-speaking world (and precious few inside it). The three-day colloquium held at the University of Caen (Normandy, France) from 10 to 12 March 2005 thus marks a remarkable step forward in Dylan studies whose importance can scarcely be measured in words, and the organiser, Catharine Mason, Associate Professor of English at the host university, deserves the highest of praise for such an initiative. The event brought together Dylan specialists and experts in related fields from France, Britain, Canada and the US, and enjoyed the support of the US consulate in Rennes (and even the presence of the Consul at the opening). It received generous coverage, with a group photo of the participants, in the Caen edition of the newspaper Ouest France. Papers were given in both English and French.
The vantage points from which Dylan’s work was examined included the literary, the ethnological, the linguistic and the musicological. The literary note was sounded loud and clear in the opening paper, delivered by Gordon Ball, Professor of English at the Virginia Military Institute, on ‘Dylan and the Nobel’. Professor Ball – who is better placed than anyone to speak on the subject, as the person who has nominated Dylan for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year since 1996 - gave a persuasive overview of Dylan’s literary qualities, stressing how his poetry arises out of oral performance and how he has added more memorable phrases to the language than anyone since Kipling: if the Nobel rubric includes the criteria that the recipient must have produced work of an ‘idealistic tendency’ and have conferred a major benefit on humanity, Dylan’s output, Gordon Ball believes, unquestionably qualifies. He added that the work of an earlier Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, includes a very considerable number of songs. The literary approach was further validated by Christopher Lebold of the Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, who summarised the findings of his recently awarded Ph.D. on the poetics of Dylan and Leonard Cohen and how their work demonstrates the possibilities of a literary reading of song texts. Dylan’s work was taken into the realms of intertextuality by two other speakers. Richard Thomas, Professor of Classics at Harvard University, explored links and analogies between Dylan and the Greco-Roman literary tradition, from the oral delivery associated with Homer and the Roman ‘rhapsodes’ to the direct and indirect references to Virgil on ‘”Love and Theft’”. Professor Thomas stressed how, despite his elite reputation today, Virgil’s work was in his time linked to more popular elements, and predicted that in two hundred years’ time Dylan will be considered a classic and a part of high-register literature. France-based translator, literary editor and critic Dr Christopher Rollason further broadened out the discussion with an overview of Dylan’s relations with the Spanish-speaking world, examining the reception of his work in Spain and Latin America and its translation into Spanish, and suggesting parallels with a number of Spanish-language poets and a very probable direct influence of the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Translation and reception issues also featured in the paper by Nicholas Froeliger, Associate Professor of English Translation at the University of Paris VII, who offered a detailed examination of French-language cover versions of Dylan, notably in the recordings of Hugues Aufray and Serge Kerval.
Ethnology dominated in the paper by Emmanuel Désveaux, Professor of Anthropology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris), who suggested unexpected connections between Dylan’s imagery and Native American traditions. The ethnological and the musicological fused in a number of contributions. Catharine Mason provided insight into Dylan’s creative use of blues conventions, focusing on his cover of Blind Willie McTell’s ‘Broke Down Engine’; Rob Bowman, Professor of Music at York University, Toronto – a widely experienced musicologist who is currently compiling a 6-CD set by The Band which will include ‘new’ Dylan material – also examined the African-American dimension, comparing Dylan’s version of ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’ with Blind Lemon Jefferson’s original and arguing that the earliest Dylan was far more under the African-American than the Guthrie influence. In impressive scholarly detail, Todd Harvey, specialist at the American Folklife Centre at the Library of Congress and author of the study ‘The Formative Dylan’, traced the complex pre-Dylan history of ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’; and Jeremy Price, Associate Professor of English at the University of Poitiers, shed new light on the influence on early Dylan of the Anglo-Scottish and Irish ballads (surely it was news to most that ‘I Pity the Poor Immigrant’ takes its tune from a ballad called ‘Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers’).
Other papers focused on linguistic and musicological aspects of Dylan’s work, using perspectives encompassing the stylistic, the sociolinguistic and the performative. Jean-Charles Khalifa, also of the University of Poitiers, where he is Associate Professor of English and Linguistics, presented the often surprising results of a corpus-based lexical and syntactic analysis of Dylan’s lyrics (we learned, for instance, that Dylan uses the word ‘mind’ far more than the native-speaker average). Mike Daley, musician and doctoral research scholar at York University, Toronto and author of the book ‘The Four Voices of Bob Dylan’, looked at speech intonation in Dylan’s vocal performance, homing in on the second stanza of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’; and Keith Negus, Professor of Musicology at Goldsmith’s (University of London), examined the phenomenon of listening to Dylan from a series of musicological and sociological perspectives, with the aim of helping redress what he felt was an over-emphasis in much Dylan criticism on lyrics rather than music. The range of approaches was extended into the realm of cinema by Laure Bouquerel, doctoral research scholar at the University of Caen, who made use of ‘Don’t Look Back’ to consider the ideological construction of the ‘star system’ and Bob Dylan’s problematic relationship with it. Other media were represented by two exhibitions, of Dylan-inspired work by Louisiana photographer Robert Borne, and of Dylan lyrics transposed into Chinese calligraphy by the artist Hong Zhou (who is to be congratulated on her imaginativeness!)
Music is where it all starts, and the colloquium’s strong academic side was no obstacle to the presence of two excellent musicians. Georgia-born singer-songwriter Steve Young, best-known for his beautiful song ‘Seven Bridges Road’ as covered by Joan Baez and the Eagles, played extracts from the traditional repertoire, his own and Dylan’s; and the conference wound up on a high note with the appearance in person of onetime Dylan associate Charlie McCoy. Charlie told an entranced public how he played guitar on ‘Desolation Row’ and harmonica on ‘Obviously Five Believers’, how all of ‘John Wesley Harding’ was recorded in nine and a half hours, and much more from the annals of Dylan lore, some of which was unknown to even the most hardcore fans present. Academia met realia as the event climaxed to a triumphant close. The challenge will now be for Dylan scholars to build further on the success of this colloquium and help make wider sections of the public aware of the enormous interest and potential, right across the disciplinary range, of Bob Dylan’s work as a subject of academic study. The atmosphere of warmth and sharing created at Caen was such that, ‘just as sure as we’re living’, we can be sure that those who took part in this ground-breaking event will be equal to the challenge, and will rise to it joyfully, well before ‘Gabriel blows his horn’!
Thanx a lot, Christopher for this interesting report - I'll surely check your links & hope that some of these papers will be available to the public in print
"Eigil Møller" <ei...@postkasse.org> wrote in message <news:423e9852$0$654$edfadb0f@dread16.news.tele.dk>... > Thanx a lot, Christopher for this interesting report - I'll surely check > your links & hope that some of these papers will be available to the public > in print
> regards, Eigil
> "christopher rollason" <rolla...@9online.fr> skrev i en meddelelse > news:d1knpt$64m$1@aphrodite.grec.isp.9tel.net... > > BOB DYLAN'S PERFORMANCE ARTISTRY: COLLOQUIUM IN CAEN (FRANCE), 10-12 MARCH > > 2005
> > Thanx a lot, Christopher for this interesting report - I'll surely check > > your links & hope that some of these papers will be available to the public > > in print
> > regards, Eigil
> > "christopher rollason" <rolla...@9online.fr> skrev i en meddelelse > > news:d1knpt$64m$1@aphrodite.grec.isp.9tel.net... > > > BOB DYLAN'S PERFORMANCE ARTISTRY: COLLOQUIUM IN CAEN (FRANCE), 10-12 MARCH > > > 2005
1) The idea of the Dylan-Kilping connection mentioned by Prof. Gordon Ball originates with in Professor Daniel Karlin of University College, London; 2) Nicolas Froeliger's name should be spelt thus, i.e. *Nicolas*
CR -- * 'Dignity never been photographed' - Bob Dylan
> BOB DYLAN’S PERFORMANCE ARTISTRY: COLLOQUIUM IN CAEN (FRANCE), 10-12 MARCH > 2005
> Report by Christopher Rollason
> Bob Dylan conferences have been a rarity in the academic environment, and, > unless the author of this report is mistaken, until now none had ever been > held outside the English-speaking world (and precious few inside it). The > three-day colloquium held at the University of Caen (Normandy, France) from > 10 to 12 March 2005 thus marks a remarkable step forward in Dylan studies > whose importance can scarcely be measured in words, and the organiser, > Catharine Mason, Associate Professor of English at the host university, > deserves the highest of praise for such an initiative. The event brought > together Dylan specialists and experts in related fields from France, > Britain, Canada and the US, and enjoyed the support of the US consulate in > Rennes (and even the presence of the Consul at the opening). It received > generous coverage, with a group photo of the participants, in the Caen > edition of the newspaper Ouest France. Papers were given in both English and > French.
> The vantage points from which Dylan’s work was examined included the > literary, the ethnological, the linguistic and the musicological. The > literary note was sounded loud and clear in the opening paper, delivered by > Gordon Ball, Professor of English at the Virginia Military Institute, on > ‘Dylan and the Nobel’. Professor Ball – who is better placed than anyone to > speak on the subject, as the person who has nominated Dylan for the Nobel > Prize in Literature every year since 1996 - gave a persuasive overview of > Dylan’s literary qualities, stressing how his poetry arises out of oral > performance and how he has added more memorable phrases to the language than > anyone since Kipling: if the Nobel rubric includes the criteria that the > recipient must have produced work of an ‘idealistic tendency’ and have > conferred a major benefit on humanity, Dylan’s output, Gordon Ball believes, > unquestionably qualifies. He added that the work of an earlier Nobel > laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, includes a very considerable number of songs. > The literary approach was further validated by Christopher Lebold of the > Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, who summarised the findings of his > recently awarded Ph.D. on the poetics of Dylan and Leonard Cohen and how > their work demonstrates the possibilities of a literary reading of song > texts. Dylan’s work was taken into the realms of intertextuality by two > other speakers. Richard Thomas, Professor of Classics at Harvard University, > explored links and analogies between Dylan and the Greco-Roman literary > tradition, from the oral delivery associated with Homer and the Roman > ‘rhapsodes’ to the direct and indirect references to Virgil on ‘”Love and > Theft’”. Professor Thomas stressed how, despite his elite reputation today, > Virgil’s work was in his time linked to more popular elements, and predicted > that in two hundred years’ time Dylan will be considered a classic and a > part of high-register literature. France-based translator, literary editor > and critic Dr Christopher Rollason further broadened out the discussion with > an overview of Dylan’s relations with the Spanish-speaking world, examining > the reception of his work in Spain and Latin America and its translation > into Spanish, and suggesting parallels with a number of Spanish-language > poets and a very probable direct influence of the poetry of Federico García > Lorca. Translation and reception issues also featured in the paper by > Nicholas Froeliger, Associate Professor of English Translation at the > University of Paris VII, who offered a detailed examination of > French-language cover versions of Dylan, notably in the recordings of Hugues > Aufray and Serge Kerval.
> BOB DYLAN’S PERFORMANCE ARTISTRY: COLLOQUIUM IN CAEN (FRANCE), 10-12 MARCH > 2005
> Report by Christopher Rollason
> Bob Dylan conferences have been a rarity in the academic environment, and, > unless the author of this report is mistaken, until now none had ever been > held outside the English-speaking world (and precious few inside it). The > three-day colloquium held at the University of Caen (Normandy, France) from > 10 to 12 March 2005 thus marks a remarkable step forward in Dylan studies > whose importance can scarcely be measured in words, and the organiser, > Catharine Mason, Associate Professor of English at the host university, > deserves the highest of praise for such an initiative. The event brought > together Dylan specialists and experts in related fields from France, > Britain, Canada and the US, and enjoyed the support of the US consulate in > Rennes (and even the presence of the Consul at the opening). It received > generous coverage, with a group photo of the participants, in the Caen > edition of the newspaper Ouest France. Papers were given in both English and > French.
> The vantage points from which Dylan’s work was examined included the > literary, the ethnological, the linguistic and the musicological. The > literary note was sounded loud and clear in the opening paper, delivered by > Gordon Ball, Professor of English at the Virginia Military Institute, on > ‘Dylan and the Nobel’. Professor Ball – who is better placed than anyone to > speak on the subject, as the person who has nominated Dylan for the Nobel > Prize in Literature every year since 1996 - gave a persuasive overview of > Dylan’s literary qualities, stressing how his poetry arises out of oral > performance and how he has added more memorable phrases to the language than > anyone since Kipling: if the Nobel rubric includes the criteria that the > recipient must have produced work of an ‘idealistic tendency’ and have > conferred a major benefit on humanity, Dylan’s output, Gordon Ball believes, > unquestionably qualifies. He added that the work of an earlier Nobel > laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, includes a very considerable number of songs. > The literary approach was further validated by Christopher Lebold of the > Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, who summarised the findings of his > recently awarded Ph.D. on the poetics of Dylan and Leonard Cohen and how > their work demonstrates the possibilities of a literary reading of song > texts. Dylan’s work was taken into the realms of intertextuality by two > other speakers. Richard Thomas, Professor of Classics at Harvard University, > explored links and analogies between Dylan and the Greco-Roman literary > tradition, from the oral delivery associated with Homer and the Roman > ‘rhapsodes’ to the direct and indirect references to Virgil on ‘”Love and > Theft’”. Professor Thomas stressed how, despite his elite reputation today, > Virgil’s work was in his time linked to more popular elements, and predicted > that in two hundred years’ time Dylan will be considered a classic and a > part of high-register literature. France-based translator, literary editor > and critic Dr Christopher Rollason further broadened out the discussion with > an overview of Dylan’s relations with the Spanish-speaking world, examining > the reception of his work in Spain and Latin America and its translation > into Spanish, and suggesting parallels with a number of Spanish-language > poets and a very probable direct influence of the poetry of Federico García > Lorca. Translation and reception issues also featured in the paper by > Nicholas Froeliger, Associate Professor of English Translation at the > University of Paris VII, who offered a detailed examination of > French-language cover versions of Dylan, notably in the recordings of Hugues > Aufray and Serge Kerval.
> Ethnology dominated in the paper by Emmanuel Désveaux, Professor of > Anthropology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris), > who suggested unexpected connections between Dylan’s imagery and Native > American traditions. The ethnological and the musicological fused in a > number of contributions. Catharine Mason provided insight into Dylan’s > creative use of blues conventions, focusing on his cover of Blind Willie > McTell’s ‘Broke Down Engine’; Rob Bowman, Professor of Music at York > University, Toronto – a widely experienced musicologist who is currently > compiling a 6-CD set by The Band which will include ‘new’ Dylan material – > also examined the African-American dimension, comparing Dylan’s version of > ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’ with Blind Lemon Jefferson’s original and > arguing that the earliest Dylan was far more under the African-American than > the Guthrie influence. In impressive scholarly detail, Todd Harvey, > specialist at the American Folklife Centre at the Library of Congress and > author of the study ‘The Formative Dylan’, traced the complex pre-Dylan > history of ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’; and Jeremy Price, Associate Professor > of English at the University of Poitiers, shed new light on the influence on > early Dylan of the Anglo-Scottish and Irish ballads (surely it was news to > most that ‘I Pity the Poor Immigrant’ takes its tune from a ballad called > ‘Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers’).
> Other papers focused on linguistic and musicological aspects of Dylan’s > work, using perspectives encompassing the stylistic, the sociolinguistic and > the performative. Jean-Charles Khalifa, also of the University of Poitiers, > where he is Associate Professor of English and Linguistics, presented the > often surprising results of a corpus-based lexical and syntactic analysis of > Dylan’s lyrics (we learned, for instance, that Dylan uses the word ‘mind’ > far more than the native-speaker average). Mike Daley, musician and doctoral > research scholar at York University, Toronto and author of the book ‘The > Four Voices of Bob Dylan’, looked at speech intonation in Dylan’s vocal > performance, homing in on the second stanza of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’; and > Keith Negus, Professor of Musicology at Goldsmith’s (University of London), > examined the phenomenon of listening to Dylan from a series of musicological > and sociological perspectives, with the aim of helping redress what he felt > was an over-emphasis in much Dylan criticism on lyrics rather than music. > The range of approaches was extended into the realm of cinema by Laure > Bouquerel, doctoral research scholar at the University of Caen, who made use > of ‘Don’t Look Back’ to consider the ideological construction of the ‘star > system’ and Bob Dylan’s problematic relationship with it. Other media were > represented by two exhibitions, of Dylan-inspired work by Louisiana > photographer Robert Borne, and of Dylan lyrics transposed into Chinese > calligraphy by the artist Hong Zhou (who is to be congratulated on her > imaginativeness!)
> Music is where it all starts, and the colloquium’s strong academic side was > no obstacle to the presence of two excellent musicians. Georgia-born > singer-songwriter Steve Young, best-known for his beautiful song ‘Seven > Bridges Road’ as covered by Joan Baez and the Eagles, played extracts from > the traditional repertoire, his own and Dylan’s; and the conference wound up > on a high note with the appearance in person of onetime Dylan associate > Charlie McCoy. Charlie told an entranced public how he played guitar on > ‘Desolation Row’ and harmonica on ‘Obviously Five Believers’, how all of > ‘John Wesley Harding’ was recorded in nine and a half hours, and much more > from the annals of Dylan lore, some of which was unknown to even the most > hardcore fans present. Academia met realia as the event climaxed to a > triumphant close. The challenge will now be for Dylan scholars to build > further on the success of this colloquium and help make wider sections of > the public aware of the enormous interest and potential, right across the > disciplinary range, of Bob Dylan’s work as a subject of academic study. The > atmosphere of warmth and sharing created at Caen was such that, ‘just as > sure as we’re living’, we can be sure that those who took part in this > ground-breaking event will be equal to the challenge, and will rise to it > joyfully, well before ‘Gabriel blows his horn’!
> Note: The colloquium website is at: <www.unicaen.fr/musa/bob_dylan/>. Those > interested in the scholarly analysis of Dylan's work may also wish to visit > the Bob Dylan Critical Corner site at: <
Since you're plugged into the academic study of His Bobship, do you know whether anybody in the ivory minaret has made the Dylan-Omar Khayyam connection? It would be interesting to see how professors of literature or cultural studies or whatever it is interpret the Rubaiyat and what Bob was trying to put across in Absolutely Sweet Marie.
