"We may be ugly, but we have the music"
The Brock Press - March 18, 2008 by Katherine Gottli
To those familiar with contemporary Canadian literature, Leonard Cohen has certainly reached the ranks of household name.
With a career spanning decades, and admirers ranging from the likes of Bob Dylan to Rufus Wainwright, Cohen, 73, was accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Madonna, John Mellancamp, The Ventures, and the Dave Clark Five on March 10 in Clevland, Ohio.
With novels, books of poetry (the most recent published in 2006), and a substantial discography under his belt, it was only a matter of time before Cohen's career was recognized in the United States after being accepted into the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.
"We will be building statues to Cohen in the future. Any acknowledgement of his work at this point in his career is but a token down-payment of the homage that he is due," Prof. Gregory Betts in the English department at Brock University said. "It would be ridiculous to think that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame authenticates Leonard Cohen. If anything, it is hoping to gain some credibility by acknowledging him."
Yet, despite the fact that a Canadian literary icon will be included in the constant rotation of songs played at the Hall of Fame, will Cohen's acceptance have any drastic effects on how Canadian literature is viewed? Professor Marilyn Rose in the English department at Brock has her doubts.
"I'm not sure that Leonard Cohen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will change much about the profile of Canadian literature abroad," she said. "Cohen is being honoured for his songwriting. His public persona is as a pop icon at this point, more than anything else. And in that role he is associated as much with Los Angeles and New York as with Montreal, where he grew up."
Betts echoes these sentiments, but also believes that Cohen being recognized as a 'song writer' will simply distract from the fact that he does have such a vast catalogue of poetry and two cutting edge novels attributed to his name, which deserve just as much recognition, if not more, than his 'popular singer/songwriter' status.
"After the synthesizer becomes too painful to even revisit in retro, half of his music will disappear. Fifty years after that only archaeologists and musical historians will care about the legacy of the fireside acoustic guitar ballad," he said. "His books, the poetry and both novels, and even his lyrics will not diminish in the same way. In the meantime, while musicians tribute him because he was the first cool singer in their parent's record collection, writers in this country are still trying to catch up to the imaginative freedom of Beautiful Losers."
Cohen's impact on Canadian Literature is truly profound, according to Betts and Rose. During the '70s when Cohen had his metaphorical birth in the literary scene, there were hundreds of interest groups, all in fierce opposition against each other - every one attempting to stifle and censor each other's creativity in order to enhance their own. Cohen, however, was able to rise above it all.
"The beautiful thing about Leonard Cohen is that he was able to break through the entrenched and dominant conservativism of the Canadian literary industry and make a thousand perfectly normal books seem instantly dated, irrelevant, and trivial," Betts said. "Through Cohen, Canadian literature left the politics of this country and discovered mythology. The rest of us enjoy the benefit of travelling along in his wake."
Thanks to Michael Lutomski for providing this article.
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