Dylan gets Pulitzer

At last. I would like to argue that Bob Dylan is the greatest artist of the twentieth century. I shall try to expand on this claim. I cannot be considered to be a Bob-Cat in the true sense of the term. I do not have every detail of his life etched on my memory, I do not have every version of every song that he has written over the last forty years and I do not sit and try to interpret all of his words. However, I do love his work and what is more I think he has a genuine claim to be the most important artist of the twentieth century. There are many reasons for this. The twentieth century was the period in which popular culture was created (or at least became recognised as being significant). It was also the century of popular revolution and an explosion in methods of reproduction. The century saw art movements such as surrealism, cubism, pop, and minimalism all flourish in the world of the visual arts. In music Stravinsky, Stockhausen and others radically changed the way in which we thought about discord. In poetry and writing James Joyce, TS Eliot, Jack Kerouac and many others changed the way in which the word and the idea of story was presented. In popular music Elvis created the mega-star, in painting Salvador Dali created the character of the artist. And then along came Bob Dylan. A gawky teenager with a mind like a sponge soaking up all of these different influences mixed with a cynical astringency that hit the nerve of many of the youth of his time. But it was more than this that he achieved. He created a bridge between the notion of pop culture (as perhaps defined by Elvis) and high-brow culture. I do not believe that there is anyone else in the twentieth century who can lay claim to this extraordinary achievement. He has continually tried to change, never comfortable with being boxed in by others interpretations. This cannot be said of both Dali and Picasso. Dylan explores the domain of being human. He is neither a prophet nor a saint but if the twentieth century has an artist who embraces the cultural achievements of the century in one body of work, for me this is Dylan.