Leonard Cohen between Literature and Music: A Multi-Perspectivist Approach

• Published in: Canadian review of comparative literature 2021-09, Vol.48 (3), p.368-384
• Main Author: Mus, Francis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Literary criticism; Musicians & conductors; Translations; Writing
• ISSN: 0319-051X; 1913-9659
• DOI: 10.1353/crc.2021.0025

Literature and music are constants in Cohen's oeuvre. but how do the two relate to each other? Various scholars have already addressed this issue, mainly within the context of Canadian scholarship. This article will show that Translation/Reception Studies and Genetic Criticism also provide interesting perspectives for conceptualizing the complex relationship between music and literature, concentrating on the specific case of poems that evolved into songs. Using the case study of "Suzanne", I will show that a Translation Studies perspective can be a useful heuristic tool in considering poems that evolve into songs a form of intersemiotic self-translation. On the other hand, given that Cohen continually rewrote and reworked many of his texts, Genetic Criticism can help to conceptualize the evolution in and of the oeuvre as a whole. The current available oeuvre and the many statements made by Cohen himself are already promising and suggest that the rewriting technique is not limited to isolated "works in progress", but is a constant in Cohen's writing practice, which can be regarded as a great "oeuvre in progress". For the time being, however, we must wait for the archives to be opened to formulate more concrete hypotheses.