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16 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 DT Feature No, Bob Dylan isn’t the fi r s t lyricist to win the Nobel • Alex Lubet The Nobel organisation’s downplaying of Tagore’s significance as a musician is part of the same thinking that has long delayed Dylan’s receiving the prize. There’s been a great deal of excitement over Bob Dylan winning the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature. It’s rare for artists who have achieved widespread, mainstream popularity to win. And although Nobels often go to Americans, the last literature prize to go to one was Toni Morrison in 1993. Furthermore, according to the New York Times, “It is the first time the honor has gone to a musician.” But as Bob Dylan might croon, “the times they are mistaken.” A Bengali literary giant who probably wrote even more songs preceded Dylan’s win by over a century. Rabindranath Tagore, a wildly talented Indian poet, painter and musician, took the prize in 1913. The first musician (and first non-European) to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Tagore possessed an artistry – and lasting influence – that mirrored Dylan’s. Bengal’s own renaissance man Tagore was born in 1861 into a wealthy family and was a lifelong resident of Bengal, the East Indian state whose capital is Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Born before the invention of film, Tagore was a keen observer of India’s emergence into the modern age; much of his work was influenced by new media and other cultures. Like Dylan, Tagore was largely self-taught. And both were associated with nonviolent social change. Tagore was a supporter of Indian independence and a friend of Mahatma Gandhi, while Dylan penned much of the soundtrack of the American civil rights movement. Each was a multitalented artist: writer, musician, visual artist and film composer (Dylan is also a filmmaker). The Nobel website states that Tagore, though he wrote in many genres, was principally a poet who published more than 50 volumes of verse, as well as plays, short stories and novels. Tagore’s music isn’t mentioned until the last sentence, which says that the artist “also left … songs for which he wrote the music himself,” as if this much-loved body of work was no more than an afterthought. But with over 2,000 songs to his name, Tagore’s output of music alone is extremely impressive. Many continue to be used in films, while three of his songs were chosen as national anthems by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, an unparalleled achievement. Today, Tagore’s significance as a songwriter is undisputed. A YouTube search for Tagore’s songs, using the search term “Rabindra Sangeet” (Bengali for “Tagore songs”), yields about 234,000 hits. Although Tagore was – and remains – a musical icon in India, this aspect of his work hasn’t been recognised in the West. Perhaps for this reason, music seems not to have had much or any influence on the 1913 Nobel committee, as judged by the presentation speech by committee chair Harald Hjärne. In fact, the word “music” is never used in the prize announcement. It is notable, however, that Hjärne says the work of Tagore’s that “especially arrested the attention of the selecting critics is the 1912 poetry collection Gitanjali: Song Offerings.” Like Dylan, Tagore was largely self-taught. And both were associated with nonviolent social change Dylan: All about the songs It may be that the Nobel organisation’s downplaying of Tagore’s significance as a musician is part and parcel of the same thinking that has long delayed Dylan’s receiving the prize: uneasiness over subsuming song into the category of literature. It’s rumored that Dylan was first nominated in 1996. If true, it means that Nobel committees have been wrestling with the idea of honoring this extraordinary lyricist for two decades. Rolling Stone called Dylan’s win “easily the most controversial award since they gave it to the guy who wrote Lord of the Flies, which was controversial only because it came next after the immensely popular 1982 prize for Gabriel García Márquez.” Unlike Tagore’s Nobel announcement, in which his songs were an afterthought, the presentation announcing Dylan’s award made it clear that aside from a handful of other literary contributions this prize is all about his music. And therein lies the controversy, with some saying he shouldn’t have won – that being a pop culture icon who wrote songs disqualifies him. But like many great literary figures, Dylan is a man of letters; his songs abound with the names of those who came before him, whether it’s Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot in “Desolation Row” or James Joyce in “I Feel a Change Comin’ On.” Why not celebrate Bob by being like Bob and reading something unfamiliar, great and historically important? Tagore’s Gitanjali, his most famous collection of poems, is available in the poet’s own English translation, with an introduction by William Butler Yeats (who won his own Nobel in literature in 1923). And YouTube is a great repository for some of Tagore’s most celebrated songs (search for “Rabindra Sangeet”). Many music lovers have long hoped that the parameters of literature might be writ a bit larger to include song. While Dylan’s win is certainly an affirmation, remembering that he’s not the first can only pave the way for more musicians to win in years to come. • Alex Lubet is the Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota. This article was originally published on The Conversation
Feature 17 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 DT How is a woman known? Lalon and his views on gender • Shuprova Tasneem Starting from this Sunday, October 16, thousands of people have travelled to the shrine of Fakir Lalon Shah at Chheuriya of Kushtia to pay homage to the great philosopher, spiritual leader and poet-musician. While not much is known about his life, it is mostly believed that Lalon died on October 17, 1890, at the age of 116, leaving behind somewhere between 2,000 to 8,000 songs of mystical, social and political content. Although he did not leave behind any written compositions, his songs have been passed down through generations of his followers, and is now receiving renewed recognition for his poetic expression and progressive thought. From Rabindranath Tagore to Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan, Lalon’s works have influenced many literary greats of our times. However, Lalon’s greatness is not just in his work, but is portrayed in his philosophy and way of life – he truly lived and inspired others to live a life of mysticism, set against social binaries of religion, caste, class and gender, and looking beyond the trappings of the materialistic world. But what exactly did Lalon think of women and gender? Women in traditional societies Through Lalon’s philosophies, Bauls preach of how the world is created by the same Creator – and if all the world is His creation, then why is there so much division and dissent? Why focus so much on material wealth and getting ahead at the expense of others, when we finally take nothing to the grave? From the very onset, there is a notion of releasing yourself from the bonds of self and truly believing that we are all equal – not just with regard to class and caste, but gender as well. However, Lalon has specifically spoken about the plight of women in traditional societies too. At a time when the norms of society were regulated by gender roles defined by the rules of the Hindu caste system and the rules of purdah in Islam in the late 18th and 19th centuries, Lalon did something very few men did during his time – he acknowledged the inequality in status that women were given. It is evident when he wrote in one of his most famous compositions, titled ‘Everyone asks, to which caste does Lalon belong’: “A Muslim is marked by the sign Of circumcision; but how should You mark a woman? If a Brahmin male Is known by the thread he wears, How is a woman known?” Thus clearly identifying the lack of identity for a woman in our society at the time, when she tended to be defined by her male counterpart or family member. Rutger University’s Milly Sil has also written - “their (Bauls) songs embrace and preach oneness of all religion into humanism, universal brotherhood and also gender Lalon did something very few men did during his time – he acknowledged the inequality in status that women were given equality. It’s just like an estuary where different rivers meet and merge into the sea of oneness that is deeper, richer and more liberated.” Spiritual freedom for all According to Saymon Zakaria, folk expert and assistant director at Bangla Academy, Lalon has also written of specific women in his songs, especially Fatimah, thus reminding us of the women who have played important roles from within the religion itself, but who are seldom mentioned when discussing Islam. “Lalon also placed great emphasis on the respect that is accorded to mother - when he wrote of she who is ‘nobir boro, khodar choto (above the Prophet and lesser than God)’, he was clearly speaking of the Prophet’s mother,” he added. While some might argue that the emphasis on motherhood might just trap one in the same traditional rhetoric that binds women to one role, that was definitely not Lalon’s intention. The fact that he truly envisioned a liberal society devoid of gender discrimination and traditional gender roles is also evident when he wrote - “kuler bou hoye mon ar kotodin thakbi ghore” (How long will you sit at home and be a wife). And this traps the essence of why Lalon’s philosophy was so radically progressive and continues to be relevant to this day – because of his total breakdown of roles imposed on one by society, and his believe in every person’s right to pursue their spiritual freedom as a priority, regardless of who they were and where they came from. It is astonishing when you think about – this wild, unlettered man, roaming the dirt tracks of rural Bengal who sang of a classless and gender equal society, long before the birth of the modern philosophy of feminism. •
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