| Bob Dylan |
This current semester, I have been teaching a seminar on the “Poetics of Bob Dylan” at a nearby Jesuit university. Okay, go ahead and laugh, but I did an informal tally of how many universities currently offer courses on Bob Dylan, and it’s over 300.
He’s an important literary and cultural figure even if you do just think most of his songs are about his dope dealer. My students and I usually do a quick cultural-historical overview of a time period or theme, and then I give them the lyrics to a Dylan song, and we listen and I point out some of what I think are the important themes.
The students in this course are bright and are by and large good writers, but they’re also college students, so they spend a lot of time staring at me blankly or texting in a manner they think is discreet.
.
Link (here) to read the lengthy piece by James T. Keane, S.J. entitled Varieties of Religious Experience found at The Jesuit Post
4 comments:
Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with tax collectors and sinners and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Mark 2:16)
Huh?
When I was a kid, the hippies used to chip stucco off the side of his childhood house ... those poor owners probably didnt consider that when they bought(but they did have the album cover of blood on thetracks painted on the garage door...that was neat). Anyhoo, why do people get all weepy on bob dylan as some poet? For pete sake...HE IS (well..more honest to say was) an entertainer. I like his music a lot, but let's study the guy as a smart self promoter, not some sappy revolutionary. Academics...please a cure for cancer or make energy from some like water and let's just let the joker entertain!
John 18:3
Judas therefore having received a band of soldiers and servants from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches, weapons and Bob Dylan.
Looks like The Jesuit Post is the Junior Varsity of America Magazine.
The logo looks more like Lenin and less like Ignatius.
Post a Comment