April 22, 2004
Even More on Blogging Academics
The always interesting John Bruce chimes in on the discussion . He writes:
Thousands of people chasing around looking for "literature", all wrapped up and tied with a bow, just not as stuffy as an English Department tea. They might even let some non-Ph.D.s, post, from what I gather, if they can find a way to control it. I'm glad some of the 70-odd visitors I get here in a day find what I'm writing more interesting than that! I have a feeling that the few of us actually putting -- what the heck do you call this? -- up on the web had better stay as far away as we can from the word "literature". Or even "fiction". Nobody over at the English Department would notice, anyhow.
He seems to think that what's being advocated is a place where English Literature PhDs can navel-gaze and theorize in real time, while largely barring the riff-raff from posting at all, forcing them to be content to watch the intellectual fireworks from the sideline. I agree that such a situation would be less than useless, but I don't think that's what Erin O'Connor and others are suggesting.
Academic journals already fill that need quite well and do so better than a blog would. In fact, trying to have a serious academic discussion on a blog would almost guarantee that no new ideas were discovered. Since publishing and research are the currency of the academic world, no professor interested in career advancement would share new research or ideas in any meaningful way.
That aside, what I think is actually being advocated is simply a vibrant community of people who love literature discussing it with like-minded people. They would be like the teaching aid blogs I suggested earlier, but for a broader audience. They would certainly not be "all wrapped up and tied with a bow" as John suggests, but essentially online book clubs that take advantage of the Internet's ability to bring people together from distant locations.
Perhaps some people might find such discussions boring, but for those of us who love to discuss literature it would be a wonderful thing. Whether or not anybody "over at the English Department would notice" is beside the point.
UPDATE: John Bruce responds to my response by pointing out that the current examples of this sort of blogging are "redolent of in-groupery and self-congratulation." Maybe that would happen after all with a literature blog, but I think there are enough readers outside of academia who would like a place to discuss what they're reading to prevent that. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems worth a shot. He also thinks "that people actively using the language for anything remotely like an original and creative purpose will have better ways to occupy their time," but I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. Part of being a writer is reading and thinking about what you've read. Having a forum to discuss these thoughts would seem to be a boon to writers, not a distraction. Still, his skepticism should serve as a warning and preventative for anyone undertaking such a project.