The truth is, though, even if Mr. Dylan did borrow a few lines from Mr. Saga's work, they not only appear in a different medium (music) and a different milieu (far from Mr. Saga's oral history of Japanese gangsters), they also represent only a fraction of the mosaic that is "Love & Theft." Even Mr. Saga himself seems to understand this as, in the interviews that have been published he has praised Mr. Dylan's work.
The intimations of plagiarism represent a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of art, the dialog that takes place between sources and the artistic imagination. The charges are emblematic of a destructive type of cultural dissonance, wherein no one can be trusted. The reflex attitude toward politicians is now, it seems, being directed at artists.
Luke Torn Wall Street Journal July 16, 2003link from ArtsJournal
