Bob Dylan as a challenge to modern literary studies

Abstract

Bob Dylan turns 80, still active and still the subject of controversy. People love both to hate and to love the old songwriter, musician, and Nobel Prize winner. He is one of the world's biggest celebrities, a riddle who prefers to surprise rather than to live up to the expectations of the audience or the media. His songs have long since become classics in the songbooks of the world, but have we grasped the challenges he has presented not only to the audience but also to the humanities?