The Department of English and Humanities of ULAB organised the Dylan Debate on 8 December over the motion ‘Bob Dylan does not deserve the Nobel Prize in literature.’

The professors Syed Manzoorul Islam, Firdous Azim and Hasan Al Zayed teamed up defending the motion against Professors Kaiser Haq, Fakrul Alam and the renowned musician Maqsoodul Huq.  

The chief guest at the programme was the Swedish ambassador Johan Frisell, who also presided over the debate. The session was followed by a musical performance by the Vice- Chancellor (Acting) of ULAB Professor Imran Rahman, Maqsoodul Haque, Kaiser Kabir, Shahbaz Khan Pilu, Ihsanul Haque, Bappi Rahman, Reazur Rahman, and Foad Nasser Babu.

The panelists were engaged in an animated and passionate argument over why Bob Dylan’s work should or should not be considered as literature. That also brought in the basic question, ‘what is literature?’ While defenders of the motion dubbed Dylan as a ‘wonderful performer with heart, but lacking the soul,’ the contenders drew attention to the history of the Nobel Prize which often made ‘audacious moves’ to promote writers and thinkers of novel tradition.  The adjudicator applauded the panelists on both sides, and announced the contenders of the debate as winners, which, was decided by the audience as well. The results in the pre-polls remained unchanged when counted in the post-polls.

This programme was also attended by Juditha Ohlmacher, member of the Board of Trustees ULAB, Professor Shamsad Murtoza, Head, Department of English, ULAB, and  guests from various walks of life. All the panelists, musicians and the chief guest were presented with crests.