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Fw: Fw: Droves of Academe
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Date
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur Glass" <goliard@worldnet.att.net>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (72
lines) ------------------
> There is, I am embarrassed to discover, a glaring typo in my post re the
> article 'Droves of Academe.' If the dismal job situation drives a
new-minted
> PhD in literature to drink, he may very well 'pour over' the article, in
the
> sense of 'pouring a stiff one', but I meant to suggest that he 'pore' over
> it.
>
> In any event, the comfortably tenured Professor Cockerell's of the world
> will continue to churn out paint-by-number articles employing the latest
> jargon while the true lovers of imaginative literature, the Timofey Pnins
of
> the spirit, will ride of into the sunset in their 'small, blue pale
> sedans'.
> > > The article mentioned by Arthur Glass, 'Droves of Academe',
> > > by Tom McGervan and Rebecca Traister, may be read online at
> > >
> > > > > >
> > > and it is bleak, bleak, bleak. Certainly anyone who expects
> > > to get a raw dissertation published is just courting
> > > rejection, and the situation for monographs in general isn't
> > > much better. While at the MLA I had to attend a panel for
> > > people working on books in the "Blackwell Companion" series
> > > (unfortunately held at the same time as the first Nabokov
> > > panel), at which Andrew McNeillie from Blackwell's glumly
> > > explained that a few years ago Blackwell realized it would
> > > go bankrupt if it continued to publish scholarly monographs,
> > > so they abandoned them entirely and went over to publishing
> > > Companions, Guides, Concise Companions etc. There seems to
> > > be an awful lot of competition in the Companion market these
> > > days, so this may be a trend across all of scholarly
> > > publishing. And since the typical Companion
> > > editor/contributor is a senior scholar in his or her field,
> > > the net percentage of in-print pages by younger folk has got
> > > to be shrinking.
> > >
> > > OK, on to more cheerful topics--
> > > Mary
> > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Arthur Glass" <goliard@worldnet.att.net>
> > >
> > > > > Anyone who thinks that publishing with an eye toward the
promotions
> > committee is a practical life-startegy in the humanities ought to get
> hold
> > of and pour over 'Droves of Academe', by Tom McGervan and Rebecca
> Traister,
> > a piece about the recent MLA convention in New York. which appeared on
the
> > front page of the Jan 6 issue of the __New York Observer__ . All the
sad,
> > hang-dog about-to-be docs and post-docs leaving off piles of raw
> > dissertations in front of publishers booths.
> > > > >
> > > So if you want to write about imaginative literature, you
> > > might as well 'follow your bliss' (or your flutterby) an
> > > activity to which reading and discussing the works of the
> > > Bird of Paradise makes a significant contribution.
>
>
From: "Arthur Glass" <goliard@worldnet.att.net>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (72
lines) ------------------
> There is, I am embarrassed to discover, a glaring typo in my post re the
> article 'Droves of Academe.' If the dismal job situation drives a
new-minted
> PhD in literature to drink, he may very well 'pour over' the article, in
the
> sense of 'pouring a stiff one', but I meant to suggest that he 'pore' over
> it.
>
> In any event, the comfortably tenured Professor Cockerell's of the world
> will continue to churn out paint-by-number articles employing the latest
> jargon while the true lovers of imaginative literature, the Timofey Pnins
of
> the spirit, will ride of into the sunset in their 'small, blue pale
> sedans'.
> > > The article mentioned by Arthur Glass, 'Droves of Academe',
> > > by Tom McGervan and Rebecca Traister, may be read online at
> > >
> > > > > >
> > > and it is bleak, bleak, bleak. Certainly anyone who expects
> > > to get a raw dissertation published is just courting
> > > rejection, and the situation for monographs in general isn't
> > > much better. While at the MLA I had to attend a panel for
> > > people working on books in the "Blackwell Companion" series
> > > (unfortunately held at the same time as the first Nabokov
> > > panel), at which Andrew McNeillie from Blackwell's glumly
> > > explained that a few years ago Blackwell realized it would
> > > go bankrupt if it continued to publish scholarly monographs,
> > > so they abandoned them entirely and went over to publishing
> > > Companions, Guides, Concise Companions etc. There seems to
> > > be an awful lot of competition in the Companion market these
> > > days, so this may be a trend across all of scholarly
> > > publishing. And since the typical Companion
> > > editor/contributor is a senior scholar in his or her field,
> > > the net percentage of in-print pages by younger folk has got
> > > to be shrinking.
> > >
> > > OK, on to more cheerful topics--
> > > Mary
> > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Arthur Glass" <goliard@worldnet.att.net>
> > >
> > > > > Anyone who thinks that publishing with an eye toward the
promotions
> > committee is a practical life-startegy in the humanities ought to get
> hold
> > of and pour over 'Droves of Academe', by Tom McGervan and Rebecca
> Traister,
> > a piece about the recent MLA convention in New York. which appeared on
the
> > front page of the Jan 6 issue of the __New York Observer__ . All the
sad,
> > hang-dog about-to-be docs and post-docs leaving off piles of raw
> > dissertations in front of publishers booths.
> > > > >
> > > So if you want to write about imaginative literature, you
> > > might as well 'follow your bliss' (or your flutterby) an
> > > activity to which reading and discussing the works of the
> > > Bird of Paradise makes a significant contribution.
>
>