"Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize, Redefining Boundaries of Literature"
BEN SISARIO, ALEXANDRA ALTER and SEWELL CHANOCT. 13, 2016
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"Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize, Redefining Boundaries of Literature"
BEN SISARIO, ALEXANDRA ALTER and SEWELL CHANOCT. 13, 2016
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Half a century ago, Bob Dylan shocked the music world by plugging in an electric guitar and alienating folk purists. For decades he continued to confound expectations, selling millions of records with dense, enigmatic songwriting.
Now, Mr. Dylan, the poet laureate of the rock era, has been rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature, an honor that elevates him into the company of T. S. Eliot, Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison and Samuel Beckett.
Mr. Dylan, 75, is the first musician to win the award, and his selection on Thursday is perhaps the most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901. In choosing a popular musician for the literary world’s highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels.
[ Our pop critic on Bob Dylan, the musician | Our book critic on Dylan, the writer ]
Some prominent writers celebrated Mr. Dylan’s literary achievements, including Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates and Salman Rushdie, who called Mr. Dylan “the brilliant inheritor of the bardic tradition,” adding, “Great choice.”
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But others called the academy’s decision misguided and questioned whether songwriting, however brilliant, rises to the level of literature.
“Bob Dylan winning a Nobel in Literature is like Mrs Fields being awarded 3 Michelin stars,” the novelist Rabih Alameddine wrote on Twitter. “This is almost as silly as Winston Churchill.”
Jodi Picoult, a best-selling novelist, snarkily asked, “I’m happy for Bob Dylan, #ButDoesThisMeanICanWinAGrammy?”
Many musicians praised the choice with a kind of awe. On Twitter, Rosanne Cash, the songwriter and daughter of Johnny Cash, wrote simply: “Holy mother of god. Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize.”
But some commentators bristled. Two youth-oriented websites, Pitchfork and Vice, both ran columns questioning whether Mr. Dylan was an appropriate choice for the Nobel.
As the writer of classic folk and protest songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” as well as Top 10 hits including “Like a Rolling Stone,” Mr. Dylan is an unusual Nobel winner. The first American to win the prize since Ms. Morrison in 1993, he is studied by Oxford dons and beloved by presidents.
Yet instead of appearing at the standard staid news conference arranged by a publisher, Mr. Dylan was in Las Vegas on Thursday for a performance at a theater there. By late afternoon, Mr. Dylan had not commented on the honor.
Mr. Dylan has often sprinkled literary allusions into his music and cited the influence of poetry on his lyrics, and has referenced Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine and Ezra Pound. He has also published poetry and prose, including his 1971 collection, “Tarantula,” and “Chronicles: Volume One,” a memoir published in 2004. His collected lyrics from 1961-2012 are due out on Nov. 1 from Simon & Schuster.
Literary scholars have long debated whether Mr. Dylan’s lyrics can stand on their own as poetry, and an astonishing volume of academic work has been devoted to parsing his music. The Oxford Book of American Poetry included his song “Desolation Row,” in its 2006 edition, and Cambridge University Press released “The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan” in 2009, further cementing his reputation as a brilliant literary stylist.
Billy Collins, the former United States poet laureate, argued that Mr. Dylan deserved to be recognized not merely as a songwriter, but as a poet.
“Most song lyrics don’t really hold up without the music, and they aren’t supposed to,” Mr. Collins said in an interview. “Bob Dylan is in the 2 percent club of songwriters whose lyrics are interesting on the page even without the harmonica and the guitar and his very distinctive voice. I think he does qualify as poetry.”
In giving the literature prize to Mr. Dylan, the academy may also be recognizing that the gap has closed between high art and more commercial creative forms.
“It’s literature, but it’s music, it’s performance, it’s art, it’s also highly commercial,” said David Hajdu, a music critic for The Nation who has written extensively about Mr. Dylan and his contemporaries. “The old categories of high and low art, they’ve been collapsing for a long time, but this is it being made official.”
In previous years, writers and publishers have grumbled that the prize often goes to obscure writers with clear political messages over more popular figures. But in choosing someone so well known, and so far outside of established literary traditions, the academy seems to have swung far into the other direction, bestowing prestige on a popular artist who already had plenty of it.
It’s not the first time it has stretched the definition of literature. In 1953, Winston Churchill received the prize, in part as recognition of the literary qualities of his soaring political speeches and “brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values,” according to the academy. And many were surprised last year, when the prize went to the Belarussian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, whose deeply reported narratives draw on oral history.
In its citation, the Swedish Academy credited Mr. Dylan with “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
Sara Danius, a literary scholar and the permanent secretary of the 18-member academy, which called Mr. Dylan “a great poet in the English-speaking tradition” and compared him to Homer and Sappho, whose work was delivered orally. Asked if the decision to award the prize to a musician signaled a broadening in the definition of literature, Ms. Danius responded, “The times they are a-changing, perhaps.”
Mr. Dylan, whose original name is Robert Allen Zimmerman, was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minn. He emerged on the New York music scene in 1961 as an artist in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, singing protest songs and strumming an acoustic guitar in clubs and cafes in Greenwich Village.
But from the start, Mr. Dylan stood out for dazzling lyrics and an oblique songwriting style that made him a source of fascination for artists and critics. In 1963, the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart with a version of “Blowin’ in the Wind,” whose ambiguous refrains evoked Ecclesiastes.
Within a few years, Mr. Dylan was confounding the very notion of folk music, with ever more complex songs and moves toward a more rock ’n’ roll sound. In 1965, he played with an electric rock band at the Newport Folk Festival, provoking a backlash from fans who accused him of selling out.
After reports of a motorcycle accident in 1966 near his home in Woodstock, N.Y., Mr. Dylan withdrew further from public life but remained intensely fertile as a songwriter. His voluminous archives, showing his working process through thousands of pages of songwriting drafts, were acquired this year by institutions in Tulsa, Okla.
His 1975 album “Blood on the Tracks” was interpreted as a supremely powerful account of the breakdown of a relationship, but just four years later the Christian themes of “Slow Train Coming” divided critics. His most recent two albums were chestnuts of traditional pop that had been associated with Frank Sinatra.
Since 1988, Mr. Dylan has toured almost constantly, inspiring an unofficial name for his itinerary, the Never Ending Tour. Last weekend, he played the first of two performances at Desert Trip, a festival in Indio, Calif., that also featured the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and other stars of the 1960s. He is scheduled to return on Friday for the festival’s second weekend.
“As the ’60s wore on,” Giles Harvey wrote in The New York Review of Books in 2010, “Dylan grew increasingly frustrated with what he came to regard as the pious sloganeering and doctrinaire leftist politics of the folk milieu.” He “began writing a kind of visionary nonsense verse, in which the rough, ribald, lawless America of the country’s traditional folk music collided with a surreal ensemble of characters from history, literature, legend, the Bible, and many other places besides.”
Mr. Dylan’s many albums, which the Swedish Academy described as having “a tremendous impact on popular music,” include “Bringing It All Back Home” and “Highway 61 Revisited” (1965), “Blonde on Blonde” (1966), “Blood on the Tracks” (1975), “Oh Mercy” (1989), “Time Out Of Mind” (1997), “‘Love and Theft’” (2001) and “Modern Times” (2006). His 38 studio albums have sold 125 million copies around the world.
The academy added: “Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound, and he is the object of a steady stream of secondary literature.”
Mr. Dylan’s many honors include Grammy, Academy and Golden Globe awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, won a special Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
The Nobel comes with a prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or just over $900,000. The literature prize is given for a lifetime of writing rather than for a single work.
“Today, everybody from Bruce Springsteen to U2 owes Bob a debt of gratitude,” President Obama said at the medal ceremony. “There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music. All these years later, he’s still chasing that sound, still searching for a little bit of truth. And I have to say that I am a really big fan.”
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KA 7 years ago
I've commented on the version of the piece in the Diaspora section already. But...
Yes, the Academy has named Bob Dylan as the recipient of this year's Prize in literature. It is a fait accompli. That is why I don't think ... read full comment
I've commented on the version of the piece in the Diaspora section already. But...
Yes, the Academy has named Bob Dylan as the recipient of this year's Prize in literature. It is a fait accompli. That is why I don't think you should say the academy has NOMINATED him.
The nomination process ended earlier in the year when the academy received suggestions from all over the world, whittled them down to some five or six and voted for a winner which is Bob Dylan. Once the choice was made, it passed from his being a nominee to a winner.
The ceremony on December 10th (Alfred Nobel's birthday) at the Concert House in the Stockholm city centre is just the formal occasion when Bob will receive the citation from the hands of the Swedish monarch and later attend the sumptuous dinner with all the winners at the Stockholm Town Hall. Speculation will be rife about who will sit next to whom at this dinner (especially next to Dylan). The menu will be a top secret. All the other Prize winners of the year (except the Peace prize) will be there.
Whether Bob Dylan attends the ceremony or not, he will still go down in history as the recipient of the prize for this year. So it is beyond nomination. It's a done deal. Even if he declines the prize, no one else will be chosen for this year to replace him.
Boris Pasternak and Jean-Paul Sartre refused their prizes but the historical account still regards them as recipients (not nominees) of the prize. And the Nobel Committee's website names them as such.
The history of the prize has really been a checkered one but literary academia has not allowed the academy to define what literature is. Different types of writers may have been nominated in the past years. Those people asked to send in nominations may favour their own nationals. Even Freud was nominated for the Literature Prize (after he repeatedly failed to win the Medicine prize for his pseudo-scientific theory of Psychoanalysis) just as Hitler too was nominated for the Peace Prize!!! But they never won. Winston Churchill won but he was not known for his poetry or fiction or drama.
Well, as you stated, much of what is said about the Committee's deliberations is just speculation. They are sworn to secrecy even though Alfred Nobel did not set any 50 year limit in his Will. Of course, the Committee invites experts in the field to come up to defend theirs, or other's, nominees but it doesn't mean these experts know how the members think or who voted for who.
Yes, the Swedes love Dylan who I think loves them too. But the Swedes love Bruce Springsteen too and many other US music icons.
I don't think Ghanaian writers have anything to learn from Dylan's choice as an award winner. A Ghanaian is more likely to win as traditional novelist, playwright or poet. So Shatta Wale and Sarkodie should not raise their hopes too much... not even towards the Polar Music Prize!
The Ghanaian most likely to get it is Ayi Kwei Armah but if Achebe didn't get it, then his chances are not that high. But then you can never predict what the Academy will do. It has not always been fair. Ngugi is higher on the bookmakers' list than Armah. Maybe the new breed of Ghanaian writers may make it for us one day - Taiye Selasi, Esi Edugyan (in as much as she has a Ghanaian name), Yaa Gyasi? I regard Okoampa-Ahoofe as in the older generation of Ghanaian writers so he has to contend with Armah, Ata Aidoo, Amma Darko...
But, Francis, you still mentioned the Norwegian Academy in this version. You know they have nothing to do with the Prize in Literature...
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Dear KA,
As for your last statement I made that clear to you in one of my responses to you on Diaspora Homepage (Remember I told you the Norwegian Nobel Commitee is associated with the Nobel Peace Prize! You may want to ch ... read full comment
Dear KA,
As for your last statement I made that clear to you in one of my responses to you on Diaspora Homepage (Remember I told you the Norwegian Nobel Commitee is associated with the Nobel Peace Prize! You may want to check that out. There, I also mentioned "the Norwegian Nobel Committee" and you are here mentioning "the Norwegian Academy." Are they the same bodies? Am I missing something? Could you go back and check out my comments again?).
Finally, Taiye Selasi has not written much (you can probably count all her literary on your two little fingers. Neither is Esi Edugyan. So is Yaa Gyasi (Her novel "Homecoming" which touches on slavery, etc. is a delightful read).
As a matter of fact these three writers are "biginners," and as good as they are they are still "learning" the art of writing. They have more work to do to catch up. I will not say they are Nobel material at this point in time.
Moreover, all three have not produced much when even we look at their outputs from the angle Chimamanda Adichie's, say.
Ahoofe cannot compete with Armah, Aidoo, and Darko because he is simply not a good writer. Most of what Ahoofe has written (books) are junk!
As for Ngugi versus Armah, the latter has not produced much (and anything as powerful as "The Beautyful Ones Arae Not Yet Born").
Ngugi has been very active with his crafting producing volumes upon volumes for post-colonials studies, works on linguistics, literary criticism, novels, memoir(s), giving presentations/speeches (Read: The citation for Winston Churchill's 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature touched upon the powerful speeches he made, etc), book chapters, book reviews...while Armah has done "little" comparatively even though he organizes writing workshops in Senegal.
It was not only Hitler! Stalin and Juan Peron were all nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (I discuss this in the Part 3 of "The Gandhi Statur Removal Had Nothing To Do With J.B. Danquah! I sent this Part 3 and this very article the same time to Ghanaweb).
AND remember Jane Addams was nominated 91 times (see the Part 3 of the afore-mentioned essay for more info).
Finally, I am using "nominating" and "selecting/choosing" interchangeable. That is why I did not change. Remember I said I was going to change that but I later realized I was using them interchangeably. That is why I left it as it was!
Let me catch some sleep then!
Have a great weekend!
KA 7 years ago
Yes, I know they've done very little. that is why I said they could do so one day...
"Maybe the new breed of Ghanaian writers may make it for us one day..."
I wasn't thinking of next year...
I still think it is conf ... read full comment
Yes, I know they've done very little. that is why I said they could do so one day...
"Maybe the new breed of Ghanaian writers may make it for us one day..."
I wasn't thinking of next year...
I still think it is confusing to use "nominating" and selecting/choosing" interchangeably since, in this case, they mean such different things. What is normally said is that the Nobel committee has "given the prize to..." "awarded the prize to..." "has named ... as winner of...". Never "nominate".
Well, it is inconsequential, but...
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Dear KA,
Points well taken. I will be more precise next time!
Thanks.
Dear KA,
Points well taken. I will be more precise next time!
Thanks.
Joe Essah 7 years ago
You can count thousands of English Grammatical crash from every article this very writer (Kwarteng) will post to the Media platforms like Modernghana and Ghanaweb.
You can count thousands of English Grammatical crash from every article this very writer (Kwarteng) will post to the Media platforms like Modernghana and Ghanaweb.
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Don't worry, Dr. Joe Essay and Dr. Osei of English Grammatical.
I have a devastating 20-page critique of Kwame Okoampa-Ahoohe's writings, mostly of his books, by a White-American friend of mind, a literary critique.
T ... read full comment
Don't worry, Dr. Joe Essay and Dr. Osei of English Grammatical.
I have a devastating 20-page critique of Kwame Okoampa-Ahoohe's writings, mostly of his books, by a White-American friend of mind, a literary critique.
This friend of mine was the first to describe two of Ahoofe's books I gave him in New York (for his master's thesis, Columbia University) as "potboiler." He is currently a professor at Columbia University!
He is a professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics. Most of the aspects of his devastating critique have to do with Ahoofe's bad sentence constructions and grammatical errosrs, not even about typos (he could not care less about typos).
Well, I encouraged him to read Ahoofe's books (as I have found many of the grammatical errors/bad sentence constructions in these works) at his pleasure and to share his private opinions about them with me. The outcome is this 20-page paper paper. And he has been using this 20-page essay to teach his first-year students.
Lest I forget, he sits on some of the most influential literary (and linguistic) peer-reviewed journals (and societies) in the world.
As a matter of people like you will be surprised when I finally get his approval to produce them piecemeal on your Ghanaweb and Modernghana.
Go ahead and eat my thousand grammatical errors. Hahahahaha...
Enjoy the weekend!
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Not to worry.
Another US-based Ghanaian friend of mine, a professor of English, comparative literature and communication has been doing some similar.
He has done some peer-reviewed articles on this very question about ... read full comment
Not to worry.
Another US-based Ghanaian friend of mine, a professor of English, comparative literature and communication has been doing some similar.
He has done some peer-reviewed articles on this very question about Ahoofe's grammatical errors/bad sentence construction which he uses to teach his first-year graduate students.
He is even planning write a small book on it.
Thanks.
Beddi 7 years ago
Kwarteng, you have no other friend than the Ewe tribal PIG Michael Javis Kwadzo Bokor, the only Ghanaian English Professor with a very bad English just like you. Bokor is totally a disgrace to Ghanaian professors.
Kwarteng, you have no other friend than the Ewe tribal PIG Michael Javis Kwadzo Bokor, the only Ghanaian English Professor with a very bad English just like you. Bokor is totally a disgrace to Ghanaian professors.
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
It is not Dr. Machel Bokor.
Dr. Bokor has no time for Ahoofe. Moreover, Dr. Bokor does not teach in Massachussetts!
You will get to know who this person is at the appropriate hour.
And if he is a pig, who are you?
It is not Dr. Machel Bokor.
Dr. Bokor has no time for Ahoofe. Moreover, Dr. Bokor does not teach in Massachussetts!
You will get to know who this person is at the appropriate hour.
And if he is a pig, who are you?
Osei 7 years ago
Is this not the same fellow who has been writing articles with such terrible grammar on this same Ghanaweb? What the fuck do you know about writing and writers? Copy, copy fool.
Is this not the same fellow who has been writing articles with such terrible grammar on this same Ghanaweb? What the fuck do you know about writing and writers? Copy, copy fool.
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Dear KA,
Yaa Gyasi gave a rousing interview on NPR when her debut novel ("Homegoing") came (somewhere in the middle of this year, I guess).
It is probably one of the best interviews of a young writer that I had ever li ... read full comment
Dear KA,
Yaa Gyasi gave a rousing interview on NPR when her debut novel ("Homegoing") came (somewhere in the middle of this year, I guess).
It is probably one of the best interviews of a young writer that I had ever listened to.
She discussed her family (her professor father, etc) and what motivated her to write the book, including her experiences here in the United States (the American South).
Maybe you listened to this interview already (or listened to a similar interview elsewhere). But this story is even part of the novel.
Just remembered this and decided to put it out there before I finally go back to sleep.
REMINDER: The novel is "HOMEGOING" not "HOMECOMING" as I stated it elsewhere!
So long.
KA 7 years ago
Yes, I am aware of that interview. It was what made me read the book, actually.
Oh, it was Daniel Pryce who tipped me off, I should add.
Gud nite now...
Yes, I am aware of that interview. It was what made me read the book, actually.
Oh, it was Daniel Pryce who tipped me off, I should add.
Gud nite now...
Francis kwarteng 7 years ago
I know our conversation was mostly on Ghanaian writers (and musicians) but I forgot to mention Ngugi wa Thiong'o's son, Mukoma wa Ngugi.
BBC, if I recall correctly, gave father and son an interview in an open forum where ... read full comment
I know our conversation was mostly on Ghanaian writers (and musicians) but I forgot to mention Ngugi wa Thiong'o's son, Mukoma wa Ngugi.
BBC, if I recall correctly, gave father and son an interview in an open forum where audience members asked questions. Either the father or the son had a new book out at the time of the interview (book signing/reading or something of that sort).
I have been closely following Mukoma's work for sometime now and he is such an excellent writer.
Check him out here (if you have not done so already):
www.mukomawangugi.com/about.html
Let me go back to sleep now.
I hope you took note of the fact I misnamed Yaa Gyasi's book (with the correct title).
KA 7 years ago
Yes, I am aware of Mukoma (Phd from Winconsin and now assistant professor of English at Cornell). He has all the higher education (MA in Creative Writing) that the earlier breed of African writers including his father and Ach ... read full comment
Yes, I am aware of Mukoma (Phd from Winconsin and now assistant professor of English at Cornell). He has all the higher education (MA in Creative Writing) that the earlier breed of African writers including his father and Achebe didn't have.
These days all the writers have to attend some creative writing school and learn the craft like a sculptor. Looks like the spontaneous natural creative brilliance of the likes of Achebe, Soyinka, Ngugi, Nurudeen, etc can no longer take you far. You have to learn the trade in a formal setting. Updike and Ayi Kwei Armah all went to creative writing schools in the USA - the country that first came up with the idea of training creative writers. Now such schools/institutions are all over the place. The question as to whether creative writers are born or made has been answered in favour of made. Even if you have the creative talent, you still have to sharpen it by attending classes... Even Legon also now has a creative writing course, I've heard. Chimamanda runs seminars in Nigeria. The talented must help unearth other talents...
Africa now has a breed of brilliant young writers. It's a pity Chimamanda is taking all the attention and the others are not getting much of the fame. But they are equally good too - even from Chimamanda's own country which has always produced brilliant writers.
But I think one other of Ngugi's children is a crime writer like our own Kwei Quartey with his Inspector Darko series.
I am sure you've reviews of Ngugi's latest volume of his memoirs: Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer’s Awakening, New Press. It's "only" 238 pages...
And we are still waiting for Bob Dylan's Chronicles II. You think he'll ever write it? He's still touring even if his voice sounds so aged.
Yes, I saw you wrote Homecoming instead of Homegoing. I realised you corrected it. Homecoming comes more naturally than Homegoing and the mistake can easily be accounted for. Inconsequential...
Hope you had a good sleep.
Esi 7 years ago
I truly enjoyed your well written and informative piece; one of the very few on this website.
Bob Dylan refuses to acknowledge the Nobel Prize and a member of the award committee has criticized him for it. I can't say I b ... read full comment
I truly enjoyed your well written and informative piece; one of the very few on this website.
Bob Dylan refuses to acknowledge the Nobel Prize and a member of the award committee has criticized him for it. I can't say I blame him though! He probably was as surprised as everyone was.
Francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Dear Sister Esi,
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy your weekend.
Dear Sister Esi,
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy your weekend.
Anirban 7 years ago
Tagore's songs have been chosen as national anthems of India and Bangladesh but not of Sri Lanka.
Tagore's songs have been chosen as national anthems of India and Bangladesh but not of Sri Lanka.
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Hello Anirban,
Thanks for your observation! But the issue does not seem to be simplistic as you put it. It is a complex one as a matter of course! Here is what I personally think (and know about the controversy).
Yes, I ... read full comment
Hello Anirban,
Thanks for your observation! But the issue does not seem to be simplistic as you put it. It is a complex one as a matter of course! Here is what I personally think (and know about the controversy).
Yes, I am aware there are theories and counter-theories, anecdotes and counter-anecdotes, histories and counter-histories...about the "true" author of the Sri Lankan national anthem.
It is not a question I can exhastively answer now as it irrelevant to the subject matter (in that Bob Dylan did not write any national anthem as far as I know).
Some say it ("Sri Lanka Matha" or "Mother Sri Lanka") was written by Ananda Samarakoon was Rabindranath Tagore's student. Others say it was written by Tagore for Samarakoon who later translated it from the original language in which Tagore wrote it.
Yet other sources also say he inspired Samarakoon to write and compose the anthem. Let us also remember that Samarakoon studied under Tagore at Visva Bharati, a West Begali-based (Shantiniketan) which Tagore founded.
And Samarakoon is the Father of Modern Sri Lankan, thanks to Tagore. The consensus, though, seems to revolve around both Tagore and Samarakoon.
The controversy over the anthem's authorhsip is interesting just like the mystery surounding the East African Swahili balad/love song, "Malaika," which Boney M and Miriam Makeba popularized.
Grant Charo, Lucas Tututu, Fadhili William, and Adam Salim have all been proposed as original authors of the ballad, "Malaika." As of this writing, this authorship question has not been categorically resolved. There are several of these from around the world.
(I will not bother you with any "book" references on the controversy). But you should read what PARAGRAPH 7 SAYS (AFTER THE TITLE):
Title: "150 years after his birth, India and Bangladesh together recall the pre-eminent literary genius."
The simultaneous celebration of Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary in India and Bangladesh marked an exceptional move to honour the poet-philosopher. It also symbolised the deep admiration that exists in both countries for the man who enriched literature as much as he did humanity as a whole.
The versatile genius, who was much ahead of his time, wrote in his mother tongue of Bangla. But he did not limit his message to the people who lived around him. His creative works introduced a powerful dose of love and internationalism. This Indian rose to international heights: he was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1913.
Tagore was poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, educationist, spiritualist, painter, lyricist, composer and singer – a rare set of distinctions, an unbelievable conjunction of talents. His creative works, which still influence billions of people globally, are a matter of pride for the people of India and Bangladesh. He was born, grew up, worked and died here.
At critical moments he has been an inspiration for the people of what is now Bangladesh. Protagonists of the two-nation theory wanted to wipe out his influence. Pakistan's first military ruler, Ayub Khan, banned his songs. But the poet only became more relevant then before. A strong sense of linguistic nationalism grew around him. Finally, the people launched a strong cultural and political movement that culminated in the formation of Bangladesh.
Tagore made the Bengali middle class feel that he was an essential part of their national ethos. The emerging middle class, including students and intellectuals, regarded him as one of them. In no way could they think that Tagore was alien to them because of his religion.
Strangely, as in Pakistan's case, the successive military regimes in Bangladesh showed little interest in upholding his legacy. Tagore's songs and poems inspired Bengalis in their fight against Pakistan in the 1971 war of liberation. His songs and poetry inspired them culturally and politically. Never before had a poet left such an imprint and wielded so deep an influence on the psyche of the vast majority of the people. While India chose his Jana gana mana as the national anthem in 1947, Bangladesh has had one of his songs as the national anthem since its birth.
Sri Lanka's national anthem was also penned by Tagore: Apa Sri Lanka, Nama Nama Nama Nama Mata, Sundar Sri Boroni was originally Nama Nama Sri Lanka Mata in Bangla, written and set to its tune by Tagore. He did it at the request of his favourite Sri Lankan student at Santiniketan, Ananda Samarkun, in 1938. In 1940, Ananda returned to his native land and translated the song into Sinhalese and recorded it in Tagore's tune.
Indeed, Rabindranath is not only the pre-eminent literary genius of Bengal but all of South Asia, perhaps the whole of Asia.
The joint celebration of Tagore's birth anniversary began in Dhaka on May 6: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated it. In India, it was opened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on May 7. With this joint celebration, the great poet, who represents much of the common heritage and philosophy of the two countries, brought the two closer still.
The changed political circumstances in the two countries made the joint celebration possible. Tagore's philosophy, vision and outlook must bring the two closer. He is a monumental treasure that can bless us with love, humanity and justice.
Remembering a personality whose ardent belief in humanism and universalism was striking, India has instituted a Rs. 1 crore award in Tagore's name. Bangladesh has decided to set up a Rabindra University at Shilaidaha in Kushtia, where the poet spent a considerable part of his creative life while supervising the family estate. Bangladesh will also preserve the poet's intimate memories in ‘Patisar' and ‘Shahzadpur.' Dhaka has also expressed its willingness to construct a Bangladesh Bhaban at Santiniketan. India will run a special train, Sonar Tori, between Dhaka and Kolkata.
Speaking at the inaugural, Dr. Manmohan Singh said Tagore's ideas of universal humanism resonate in the contemporary world. His belief in the spiritual unity of the East and the West was a powerful message of redemption for a society beset by greed, callousness and irreverence. The joint celebration, he felt, was of “unique significance” — it was the first cultural exchange of its kind between the neighbours.
India cherishes the Tagore legacy fondly, just as Bangladesh does. Together the two must endeavour to enrich that legacy for people's welfare. Tagore is a lighthouse, a strong voice of humanity. He should guide the social consciousness of the two countries. Vice President Hamid Ansari, who attended the celebrations in Dhaka, rightly termed the celebration a momentous occasion.
Rabindranath remains a pre-eminent man of letters on both sides of the border. He is still the most influential writer in his language. He is South Asia's voice of love in a wider global perspective, a bridge of friendship. His songs should be sung forever; his works should be read for centuries to come.
Tagore's enduring influence on history comes through the many layers of his thoughts. He modernised Bangla art by refusing to follow rigid classical forms.
As a story-teller, he is second to none. His lucid, lyrical prose and grasp of the human psychology are unique. He is the foremost lyricist of his language and the most celebrated composer. He wrote more than 2,000 songs, and these are widely considered to be his best creation. His songs are an integral part of the Bengali culture and collective psyche. His novels are also some of the best in Bangla. He wrote lovely plays. He was a painter of note.
Tagore was a committed anti-colonialist. He had a deep understanding of the world at large. He visited more than 30 countries and had personal ties with scientists and literary giants of his time. He was not a revolutionary in a political sense, but he inflamed his people by renouncing his knighthood after the colonial army indiscriminately killed Indians in Jallianwala Bagh in 1919.
Tagore is a precious guide. He held that promoting one's own culture and approving the cultures of others could be one and the same attitude. “I believe,” he wrote, “the unity of human civilization can be better maintained by linking up in fellowship and cooperation of the different civilizations of the world.” The humanist added: “Let the mind be universal. The individual should not be sacrificed.”
He was a member of the elite, but Tagore did not have elitist views on education. He wrote: “I believe that all human problems find their fundamental solution in education… Poverty, pestilence, communal fights and industrial backwardness make our path narrow and perilous owing to the meagreness of education…”
Reflecting on the plight of his country under foreign rule, Tagore understood, just as Gandhi did, that violence cannot serve the ultimate purpose of humanity. He was deeply aware that India needed more than a change of political regime. Therefore, he opted for a self-reliant village economy. In the region that is now Bangladesh, he initiated projects of local initiative, local leadership and local self-government, developing cooperative systems. Besides being a poet and philosopher, Tagore started innovative research in agriculture and rural development in Patisar, Shahzadpur and Shilaidah. This spoke of his vision and commitment to the people around him. In a world dominated by technology and science, his thoughts are still relevant as he wrote: “Science has given man immense power. The golden age will return when it is used in the service of humanity.”
Tagore stood against exploitation and injustice in order to rise above geopolitical, economic and ideological divides. His messages can serve as a vital source of inspiration for cultural tolerance and lasting peace. As the two countries commemorate Tagore's birth anniversary, they should pledge to keep at bay the scourge of deadly birds of prey. A truly secular and democratic India and Bangladesh can keep alive the spirit of the great poet.
Tagore was born on May 7, 1861, in Calcutta, and died on August 7, 1941, at 80 years of age. Even a century and a half after his birth, his place in the collective life of India and Bangladesh is only getting stronger. The birth anniversary celebration is testimony to a new realisation and awakening. Invoking Tagore's timeless message of universal brotherhood, his thoughts and messages should be translated into reality.
Tagore belongs to India, and Bangladesh too. But in the truest sense, he belongs to the world. Even after 150 years of his birth, you feel his presence.
(The writer, based in Dhaka, is a Bangladesh litterateur and journalist. E-mail: hh1971@gmail.com.)
On the question of the authorship of "Malaika," most Tanzanians I have spoken to say Adam Salim was the original author (perhaps because he was a Tanzanian).
Kenyans also say the original composer was Fadh ... read full comment
Dear Anirban,
On the question of the authorship of "Malaika," most Tanzanians I have spoken to say Adam Salim was the original author (perhaps because he was a Tanzanian).
Kenyans also say the original composer was Fadhili William (perhaps because he was a Kenyan. Yet it is possible that Salim originally wrote it and he merely recorded it).
As a matter of fact, this controversial question of speculative authorship is scattered East Africa.
Yet the strongest scholarship I have seen on the authorship "Malaika" makes a very powerful case for Adam Salim.
With that said, I hope you have been following the so-called "Shakespeare Authorship Question" and the research/debate going on about the "real" authorship of Shakespearean works at Oxford University and other universities/colleges in the Western world?
What about the authorship controversies surrounding the books of the Bible (canonized versus apocrypha) and those of the Quran (and other religious books)?
Even Haile Selassie's United Nations General Assembly speech (1963), which Bob Marley turned into the famous "War" song (credit goes to Jamaican footballer Allen Cole ("Skill"), Bob Marley/The Wailers's manager, and the Barrett brothers, Aston Barrett and Carlton Barrett, is said to have been written Lorenzo Tazaz (1900-1947)!
It means Tazaz wrote the said speech for Haile Selassie some 16 years before its delivery at the UN Gneneral Assembly.
"Important utterances of H. I. M. Emperor Haile Selassie I, 1963-1972" (Addis Ababa, Imperial Ethiopian Ministry of Information, 1972) settles this controversy!
.....the list goes on and on and on and on!
ADJOA WANGARA 7 years ago
Don't waste your precious time reading this "copy and paste" nonsensical from the "bird brain" Francis Kwarteng, who is just seeking attention wasting space on platforms with garbage. The article is silly!
Don't waste your precious time reading this "copy and paste" nonsensical from the "bird brain" Francis Kwarteng, who is just seeking attention wasting space on platforms with garbage. The article is silly!
francis kwarteng 7 years ago
Dear Anirban,
Thanks for your observation!
Yes, I am aware there are theories and counter-theories, anecdotes and counter-anecdotes, histories and counter-histories...about the "true" author of the Sri Lankan national a ... read full comment
Dear Anirban,
Thanks for your observation!
Yes, I am aware there are theories and counter-theories, anecdotes and counter-anecdotes, histories and counter-histories...about the "true" author of the Sri Lankan national anthem.
It is not a question I can exhastively answer now as it irrelevant to the subject matter (in that Bob Dylan did not write any national anthem as far as I know).
Some say it ("Sri Lanka Matha" or "Mother Sri Lanka") was written by Ananda Samarakoon was Rabindranath Tagore's student. Others say it was written by Tagore for Samarakoon who later translated it from the original language in which Tagore wrote it.
Yet other sources also say he inspired Samarakoon to write and compose the anthem. Let us also remember that Samarakoon studied under Tagore at Visva Bharati, a West Begali-based (Shantiniketan) which Tagore founded.
And Samarakoon is the Father of Modern Sri Lankan, thanks to Tagore. The consensus, though, seems to revolve around both Tagore and Samarakoon.
The controversy over the anthem's authorhsip is interesting just like the mystery surounding the East African Swahili balad/love song, "Malaika," which Boney M and Miriam Makeba popularized.
Grant Charo, Lucas Tututu, Fadhili William, and Adam Salim have all been proposed as original authors of the ballad, "Malaika." As of this writing, this authorship question has not been categorically resolved. There are several of these from around the world.
(I will not bother you with any "book" references on the controversy). But you should read what PARAGRAPH 7 SAYS (AFTER THE TITLE):
Title: "150 years after his birth, India and Bangladesh together recall the pre-eminent literary genius."
The simultaneous celebration of Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary in India and Bangladesh marked an exceptional move to honour the poet-philosopher. It also symbolised the deep admiration that exists in both countries for the man who enriched literature as much as he did humanity as a whole.
The versatile genius, who was much ahead of his time, wrote in his mother tongue of Bangla. But he did not limit his message to the people who lived around him. His creative works introduced a powerful dose of love and internationalism. This Indian rose to international heights: he was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1913.
Tagore was poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, educationist, spiritualist, painter, lyricist, composer and singer – a rare set of distinctions, an unbelievable conjunction of talents. His creative works, which still influence billions of people globally, are a matter of pride for the people of India and Bangladesh. He was born, grew up, worked and died here.
At critical moments he has been an inspiration for the people of what is now Bangladesh. Protagonists of the two-nation theory wanted to wipe out his influence. Pakistan's first military ruler, Ayub Khan, banned his songs. But the poet only became more relevant then before. A strong sense of linguistic nationalism grew around him. Finally, the people launched a strong cultural and political movement that culminated in the formation of Bangladesh.
Tagore made the Bengali middle class feel that he was an essential part of their national ethos. The emerging middle class, including students and intellectuals, regarded him as one of them. In no way could they think that Tagore was alien to them because of his religion.
Strangely, as in Pakistan's case, the successive military regimes in Bangladesh showed little interest in upholding his legacy. Tagore's songs and poems inspired Bengalis in their fight against Pakistan in the 1971 war of liberation. His songs and poetry inspired them culturally and politically. Never before had a poet left such an imprint and wielded so deep an influence on the psyche of the vast majority of the people. While India chose his Jana gana mana as the national anthem in 1947, Bangladesh has had one of his songs as the national anthem since its birth.
Sri Lanka's national anthem was also penned by Tagore: Apa Sri Lanka, Nama Nama Nama Nama Mata, Sundar Sri Boroni was originally Nama Nama Sri Lanka Mata in Bangla, written and set to its tune by Tagore. He did it at the request of his favourite Sri Lankan student at Santiniketan, Ananda Samarkun, in 1938. In 1940, Ananda returned to his native land and translated the song into Sinhalese and recorded it in Tagore's tune.
Indeed, Rabindranath is not only the pre-eminent literary genius of Bengal but all of South Asia, perhaps the whole of Asia.
The joint celebration of Tagore's birth anniversary began in Dhaka on May 6: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated it. In India, it was opened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on May 7. With this joint celebration, the great poet, who represents much of the common heritage and philosophy of the two countries, brought the two closer still.
The changed political circumstances in the two countries made the joint celebration possible. Tagore's philosophy, vision and outlook must bring the two closer. He is a monumental treasure that can bless us with love, humanity and justice.
Remembering a personality whose ardent belief in humanism and universalism was striking, India has instituted a Rs. 1 crore award in Tagore's name. Bangladesh has decided to set up a Rabindra University at Shilaidaha in Kushtia, where the poet spent a considerable part of his creative life while supervising the family estate. Bangladesh will also preserve the poet's intimate memories in ‘Patisar' and ‘Shahzadpur.' Dhaka has also expressed its willingness to construct a Bangladesh Bhaban at Santiniketan. India will run a special train, Sonar Tori, between Dhaka and Kolkata.
Speaking at the inaugural, Dr. Manmohan Singh said Tagore's ideas of universal humanism resonate in the contemporary world. His belief in the spiritual unity of the East and the West was a powerful message of redemption for a society beset by greed, callousness and irreverence. The joint celebration, he felt, was of “unique significance” — it was the first cultural exchange of its kind between the neighbours.
India cherishes the Tagore legacy fondly, just as Bangladesh does. Together the two must endeavour to enrich that legacy for people's welfare. Tagore is a lighthouse, a strong voice of humanity. He should guide the social consciousness of the two countries. Vice President Hamid Ansari, who attended the celebrations in Dhaka, rightly termed the celebration a momentous occasion.
Rabindranath remains a pre-eminent man of letters on both sides of the border. He is still the most influential writer in his language. He is South Asia's voice of love in a wider global perspective, a bridge of friendship. His songs should be sung forever; his works should be read for centuries to come.
Tagore's enduring influence on history comes through the many layers of his thoughts. He modernised Bangla art by refusing to follow rigid classical forms.
As a story-teller, he is second to none. His lucid, lyrical prose and grasp of the human psychology are unique. He is the foremost lyricist of his language and the most celebrated composer. He wrote more than 2,000 songs, and these are widely considered to be his best creation. His songs are an integral part of the Bengali culture and collective psyche. His novels are also some of the best in Bangla. He wrote lovely plays. He was a painter of note.
Tagore was a committed anti-colonialist. He had a deep understanding of the world at large. He visited more than 30 countries and had personal ties with scientists and literary giants of his time. He was not a revolutionary in a political sense, but he inflamed his people by renouncing his knighthood after the colonial army indiscriminately killed Indians in Jallianwala Bagh in 1919.
Tagore is a precious guide. He held that promoting one's own culture and approving the cultures of others could be one and the same attitude. “I believe,” he wrote, “the unity of human civilization can be better maintained by linking up in fellowship and cooperation of the different civilizations of the world.” The humanist added: “Let the mind be universal. The individual should not be sacrificed.”
He was a member of the elite, but Tagore did not have elitist views on education. He wrote: “I believe that all human problems find their fundamental solution in education… Poverty, pestilence, communal fights and industrial backwardness make our path narrow and perilous owing to the meagreness of education…”
Reflecting on the plight of his country under foreign rule, Tagore understood, just as Gandhi did, that violence cannot serve the ultimate purpose of humanity. He was deeply aware that India needed more than a change of political regime. Therefore, he opted for a self-reliant village economy. In the region that is now Bangladesh, he initiated projects of local initiative, local leadership and local self-government, developing cooperative systems. Besides being a poet and philosopher, Tagore started innovative research in agriculture and rural development in Patisar, Shahzadpur and Shilaidah. This spoke of his vision and commitment to the people around him. In a world dominated by technology and science, his thoughts are still relevant as he wrote: “Science has given man immense power. The golden age will return when it is used in the service of humanity.”
Tagore stood against exploitation and injustice in order to rise above geopolitical, economic and ideological divides. His messages can serve as a vital source of inspiration for cultural tolerance and lasting peace. As the two countries commemorate Tagore's birth anniversary, they should pledge to keep at bay the scourge of deadly birds of prey. A truly secular and democratic India and Bangladesh can keep alive the spirit of the great poet.
Tagore was born on May 7, 1861, in Calcutta, and died on August 7, 1941, at 80 years of age. Even a century and a half after his birth, his place in the collective life of India and Bangladesh is only getting stronger. The birth anniversary celebration is testimony to a new realisation and awakening. Invoking Tagore's timeless message of universal brotherhood, his thoughts and messages should be translated into reality.
Tagore belongs to India, and Bangladesh too. But in the truest sense, he belongs to the world. Even after 150 years of his birth, you feel his presence.
(The writer, based in Dhaka, is a Bangladesh litterateur and journalist. E-mail: hh1971@gmail.com.)
francis kwarteng, check your poor primary one English grammatical.
What's is "Sri Lankan national anthem"?
Author: francis kwarteng
Date: 2016-10-23 05:11:30
Comment to: Ghanaian Writers, Musicians & The Swedish Aca ... read full comment
francis kwarteng, check your poor primary one English grammatical.
What's is "Sri Lankan national anthem"?
Author: francis kwarteng
Date: 2016-10-23 05:11:30
Comment to: Ghanaian Writers, Musicians & The Swedish Academy
Dear Anirban,
Thanks for your observation!
Yes, I am aware there are theories and counter-theories, anecdotes and counter-anecdotes, histories and counter-histories...about the "true" author of the Sri Lankan national anthem.
Prof Lungu 7 years ago
This radio silence from Bod Dylan!
We do not know much about the Ghana literature context like so many other authorities.
But, this we know, about the world!
We understand Bob Dylan is still performing his songs, on ... read full comment
This radio silence from Bod Dylan!
We do not know much about the Ghana literature context like so many other authorities.
But, this we know, about the world!
We understand Bob Dylan is still performing his songs, on stage.
Question is: Should art be just for art sake, or must the artist and their art seek to make a difference in the lives of those less endowed, in addition to the life of the artist?
The history of America shows counter-cyclical thrusts --- just as things are getting better, they soon attempt to return the the previous condition (worse).
Sometimes they actually do!
Bob Dylan's work was a force in the 1960s, at the height of the "Freedom Rides", when African-Americans and other minorities, including women, nationally less endowed, were fighting for basic citizenship rights.
So, right now, the biggest counter-cyclical thrust to the American system is still on-going in our own life times, with the complete takeover of the other major American party by Steve Bannon, Rush Limbaugh, and white nationalists whose words, placards, messages, and images are now normalized by Donald Trump, with his ascendancy as the head of the Republican Party.
The result --- loss of basic rights like the right to vote in America without intimidation, political interference, police violence, and sundry "poll taxes."
And it could get worse for America according to the law!
We are hearing a lot from:
Bruce Springstein
Adele
Cher
John Legend
EMINEM
Neil Young
Rolling Stone
Shakira
Rober DeNiro
Stephen King
Bette Midler
George Harrison
Malala Yousafzai, Joseph Stiglitz, and 68 other Nobel laureates
Etc, etc.
....including musicians who have actually asked the Trump campaign to stop using their music.
Will Bob Dylan prove Mr. Tim Stanley of the Telegraph wrong when Mr. Stanley says:
"...A world that gives Bob Dylan a Nobel Prize is a world that nominates Trump for president"...? (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/13/a-world-that-gives-bob-dylan-a-nobel-prize-is-a-world-that-nomin/).
Does Mr. Dylan still believe in the vision, work, and promise of old that proved Dylan was a legend?
Does every American have the same voice (and vote) to defeat Donald Trump, the serial-lying demagogue?
Or, should we all just go back to reading the LITiterature and listening to the MUsic and just maintain Bridgegate "RADIO SILENCE"?
Just thinking out loud, we must say!
Peace!
Prof Lungu 7 years ago
BOB DYLAN SONG.....
INDIANA, USA: --- Indiana Officials Target A Black Voter Registration Drive On A Technicality
The Indiana secretary of state claimed a voter registration group had forged applications — but there’s no clear evidence that happened.
10/22/2016 03:59 pm ET
Ryan J. Reilly
Senior Justice Reporter, The Huffington Post
Julia Craven
Reporter, The Huffington Post
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R) sent a letter to state election officials warning that “nefarious actors are operating” in the Hoosier state.
WASHINGTON ? Earlier this month, just ahead of Indiana’s voter registration deadline, state police executed a search warrant at the office of an organization that had set out to register black voters in a state with the worst voter turnout in the country.
Officers conducted their search on the Indiana Voter Registration Project’s headquarters just a few weeks after Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson sent a letter to state election officials warning that “nefarious actors are operating” in the Hoosier state and asking them to inform authorities if they received any voter registration forms from the group.
The letter from Lawson ? who, when she was a state legislator, co-sponsored Indiana’s controversial voter ID law ? amounted to “the voter suppression equivalent of an Amber alert,” said Craig Varoga, the president of Patriot Majority USA, a liberal nonprofit group that ran the Indiana Voter Registration Project.
The publicity surrounding the actions taken by Lawson and Indiana’s state police have cast a shadow over the nonprofits, with many stories accusing them of voter fraud.
Varoga said the Oct. 4 police action prevented the group from registering 5,000 to 10,000 additional voters ahead of Indiana’s Oct. 11 voter registration deadline. He’s worried that clerks won’t count some of the 45,000 applications the group had already collected.
So why did state officials take such a dramatic step in interrupting the IVRP’s work just days ahead of the voter registration deadline?
From what we’ve gathered, it’s not because there’s any mass “voter fraud” scheme to steal an election. Instead, it seems the extraordinary investigation is likely to find no more than potential technical violations of obscure regulations for third-party voter registration groups.
DANIEL ACKER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
Ballots sit on a table as a precinct worker waits for residents in a polling station during the presidential primary vote in South Bend, Indiana on May 3.
This all seems to have started after a county clerk’s office received 10 potentially problematic forms allegedly submitted by IVRP canvassers. In mid-September, Lawson issued a press release accusing IVRP of turning in “forged voter registration applications,” even though the evidence wasn’t clear that those forms were actually forged.
Lawson’s office and the Indiana State Police insist that their investigations are separate. Valerie Warycha, deputy chief of staff and communications director for Lawson, said the office had no prior knowledge of the police action on Oct. 4.
“At the onset of the state police investigation they told her they were going to conduct an investigation. They will not brief us on the details of their investigation until the end,” Warycha said. She also said that despite Lawson’s talk of “nefarious” actors, she never directly accused the group of voter fraud.
“She never said fraud or accused anyone of fraud ? including the Indiana Voter Registration Project,” Warycha said. “I am not sure why they are so defensive. Have they done something wrong?”
Despite the public shaming from state officials, IVRP was following the law when it turned in the forms ? even if they were fraudulent.
Individuals conducting voter registration drives are required to turn in each and every voter registration application they receive, even those they believe may not be legitimate. Many states have similar protections in place to make sure organizations are not filtering out voters based on their political party. Bill Buck, a spokesman for Patriot Majority USA, said that IVRP canvassers worked with officials and “flagged applications it thought might have omissions or other problems and asked the clerks to examine them as part of their standard review.”
Sounds responsible, right? But here’s where it gets tricky. Indiana law requires that a person who receives a voter registration application they have “reason to believe” is false, fictitious or fraudulent submit the application “with a statement sworn or affirmed to under the penalties for perjury, setting forth the reasons why the person believes the application may be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent.”
That requirement isn’t mentioned in the voter registration drive flyer published on the Indiana secretary of state’s website, but it is mentioned in a voter registration drive guide published by one Indiana county. A state police official said that part of the investigation is looking at whether IVRP canvassers submitted affidavits when they believed an application was fraudulent.
“You’ve got to comply with all aspects of the law ? not just the part of the law that you like,” Capt. David Bursten, a spokesman for the Indiana State Police, said when he pointed The Huffington Post to that statute.
Asked if IVRP had failed to submit affidavits, Bursten said that’s one piece of the investigation. “We would have no reason for doing this investigation unless there were indications that there are potential violations of state law,” he said.
The Indiana State Police said they have more than two dozen officers working on this case. But it doesn’t take too much effort to figure out that IVRP didn’t submit any affidavits.
“To my knowledge, we did not submit any affidavits,” says Buck, the Patriot Majority USA spokesman. “Canvassers did not know with certainty that the information on any forms was false or fraudulent.”
And it gets more complicated. Under the law, the state police don’t seem to have a role in an investigation into a potential fraudulent voter registration form. Instead, it is up to the county election board to investigate before turning any findings over to a prosecutor.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (R) and Indiana Governor Mike Pence (L) take the stage during a campaign rally at Grant Park Event Center in Westfield, Indiana in July.
What makes a form fraudulent depends on who you ask. To the county officials who initially called in the state police, it was missing or inaccurate information. But IVRP could not determine whether those inaccuracies were an attempt at fraud or simple human error. Lawson, it seems, is now leaning toward the latter.
“It’s very possible that because of heightened activity this year that many of those changes are changes that the individual made,” Lawson told the Associated Press on Thursday, walking back her initial comments. “That should give Indiana voters the comfort that we are vigilant and we are protecting their rights and the elections here are not rigged.”
State Democrats condemned Lawson’s earlier language as “inflammatory” since she claimed thousands of fraudulent applications had been found but did not release an exact number. But Varoga thinks that comments from other Republicans in an IndyStar story caused her to soften her language.
“The only reason she would walk it back is because members of her own party must have told her she was being reckless,” he said.
The idea that police officers could target a voter registration drive aimed at black voters doesn’t look too good for the state. One registration worker told The New Republic that state police were repeatedly trying to get her to say that the voter registration group set quotas for canvassers and paid them per voter registration received, an allegation the group says is simply untrue.
Voter fraud is incredibly rare. In fact, there’s a greater chance of someone getting struck by lightning than of in-person fraud occurring. A 2014 study from Loyola University analyzed 14 years of voting and found 241 fraudulent ballots out of one billion cast, and just 31 that were potential instances of in-person voter fraud.
But claims of voter fraud and demonization of black voter registration drives have been a component of election cycles long before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump started warning about “rigged” elections.
Doug Carter, the head of the state police, said the investigation will likely go past Election Day. He denied that Gov. Mike Pence (R) ? the man who appointed him to his job and Trump’s running mate ? had any involvement in an investigation that Pence has mentioned on the campaign trail. (Bursten, the police spokesman, told HuffPost that Carter did not make the decision to launch an investigation into IVRP).
“I wish people could know Mike Pence like I do,” Carter, a Republican donor, said.
The Justice Department, which does not typically say whether it has opened up a voting rights investigation into a particular jurisdiction, declined to comment.
Kweku Donsuro 7 years ago
Nobel Prizes are Euro-centric or Caucasian-centred. We do not have many networks in Africa to bring our works to the attention of the judges so how do we get nominated?
Nobel Prizes are Euro-centric or Caucasian-centred. We do not have many networks in Africa to bring our works to the attention of the judges so how do we get nominated?
Kweku Donsuro 7 years ago
The Nobel Literature Committee is a cabal. Why nominate a hippie when others have sweated writing volumes of poetry and prose and they get nothing! Let us then have a Nobel Prize for Music!
The Nobel Literature Committee is a cabal. Why nominate a hippie when others have sweated writing volumes of poetry and prose and they get nothing! Let us then have a Nobel Prize for Music!
BERNARD 7 years ago
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ARE(0540527508) YOU A STUDENT,GOVERNMENT
WORKER,
OR UNEMPLOYED LOOKING FOR A BUSINESS T ... read full comment
ARE(0540527508) YOU A STUDENT,GOVERNMENT
WORKER,
OR UNEMPLOYED LOOKING FOR A BUSINESS TO DO ON PART TIME / FULL TIME.
CALL NOW
ARE(0540527508) YOU A STUDENT,GOVERNMENT
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OR UNEMPLOYED LOOKING FOR A BUSINESS TO DO ON PART TIME / FULL TIME.
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"Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize, Redefining Boundaries of Literature"
BEN SISARIO, ALEXANDRA ALTER and SEWELL CHANOCT. 13, 2016
................................................................................................. ...
read full comment
I've commented on the version of the piece in the Diaspora section already. But...
Yes, the Academy has named Bob Dylan as the recipient of this year's Prize in literature. It is a fait accompli. That is why I don't think ...
read full comment
Dear KA,
As for your last statement I made that clear to you in one of my responses to you on Diaspora Homepage (Remember I told you the Norwegian Nobel Commitee is associated with the Nobel Peace Prize! You may want to ch ...
read full comment
Yes, I know they've done very little. that is why I said they could do so one day...
"Maybe the new breed of Ghanaian writers may make it for us one day..."
I wasn't thinking of next year...
I still think it is conf ...
read full comment
Dear KA,
Points well taken. I will be more precise next time!
Thanks.
You can count thousands of English Grammatical crash from every article this very writer (Kwarteng) will post to the Media platforms like Modernghana and Ghanaweb.
Don't worry, Dr. Joe Essay and Dr. Osei of English Grammatical.
I have a devastating 20-page critique of Kwame Okoampa-Ahoohe's writings, mostly of his books, by a White-American friend of mind, a literary critique.
T ...
read full comment
Not to worry.
Another US-based Ghanaian friend of mine, a professor of English, comparative literature and communication has been doing some similar.
He has done some peer-reviewed articles on this very question about ...
read full comment
Kwarteng, you have no other friend than the Ewe tribal PIG Michael Javis Kwadzo Bokor, the only Ghanaian English Professor with a very bad English just like you. Bokor is totally a disgrace to Ghanaian professors.
It is not Dr. Machel Bokor.
Dr. Bokor has no time for Ahoofe. Moreover, Dr. Bokor does not teach in Massachussetts!
You will get to know who this person is at the appropriate hour.
And if he is a pig, who are you?
Is this not the same fellow who has been writing articles with such terrible grammar on this same Ghanaweb? What the fuck do you know about writing and writers? Copy, copy fool.
Dear KA,
Yaa Gyasi gave a rousing interview on NPR when her debut novel ("Homegoing") came (somewhere in the middle of this year, I guess).
It is probably one of the best interviews of a young writer that I had ever li ...
read full comment
Yes, I am aware of that interview. It was what made me read the book, actually.
Oh, it was Daniel Pryce who tipped me off, I should add.
Gud nite now...
I know our conversation was mostly on Ghanaian writers (and musicians) but I forgot to mention Ngugi wa Thiong'o's son, Mukoma wa Ngugi.
BBC, if I recall correctly, gave father and son an interview in an open forum where ...
read full comment
Yes, I am aware of Mukoma (Phd from Winconsin and now assistant professor of English at Cornell). He has all the higher education (MA in Creative Writing) that the earlier breed of African writers including his father and Ach ...
read full comment
I truly enjoyed your well written and informative piece; one of the very few on this website.
Bob Dylan refuses to acknowledge the Nobel Prize and a member of the award committee has criticized him for it. I can't say I b ...
read full comment
Dear Sister Esi,
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy your weekend.
Tagore's songs have been chosen as national anthems of India and Bangladesh but not of Sri Lanka.
Hello Anirban,
Thanks for your observation! But the issue does not seem to be simplistic as you put it. It is a complex one as a matter of course! Here is what I personally think (and know about the controversy).
Yes, I ...
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Dear Anirban,
On the question of the authorship of "Malaika," most Tanzanians I have spoken to say Adam Salim was the original author (perhaps because he was a Tanzanian).
Kenyans also say the original composer was Fadh ...
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Don't waste your precious time reading this "copy and paste" nonsensical from the "bird brain" Francis Kwarteng, who is just seeking attention wasting space on platforms with garbage. The article is silly!
Dear Anirban,
Thanks for your observation!
Yes, I am aware there are theories and counter-theories, anecdotes and counter-anecdotes, histories and counter-histories...about the "true" author of the Sri Lankan national a ...
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francis kwarteng, check your poor primary one English grammatical.
What's is "Sri Lankan national anthem"?
Author: francis kwarteng
Date: 2016-10-23 05:11:30
Comment to: Ghanaian Writers, Musicians & The Swedish Aca ...
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This radio silence from Bod Dylan!
We do not know much about the Ghana literature context like so many other authorities.
But, this we know, about the world!
We understand Bob Dylan is still performing his songs, on ...
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BOB DYLAN SONG.....
INDIANA, USA: --- Indiana Officials Target A Black Voter Registration Drive On A Technicality
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/indiana-voter-fraud-investigation_us_580a6cafe4b000d0b156a21a
The Indiana ...
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Nobel Prizes are Euro-centric or Caucasian-centred. We do not have many networks in Africa to bring our works to the attention of the judges so how do we get nominated?
The Nobel Literature Committee is a cabal. Why nominate a hippie when others have sweated writing volumes of poetry and prose and they get nothing! Let us then have a Nobel Prize for Music!
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ARE(0540527508) YOU A STUDENT,GOVERNMENT
WORKER,
OR UNEMPLOYED LOOKING FOR A BUSINESS T ...
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