tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post7650803124320238475..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: Careers in criticismD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-22101271887498894792009-08-01T01:28:53.366-04:002009-08-01T01:28:53.366-04:00of course, the thing here is the institutionalizat...of course, the thing here is the institutionalizaton and professionalization of academic life and the demise (if ever alive) of hte public intellectual in Americabibliochefhttp://www.cookingwithideas.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-19308325537131518622009-07-31T10:49:15.563-04:002009-07-31T10:49:15.563-04:00Superb. For myself, writing isn't just squiggl...Superb. For myself, writing isn't just squiggling things on paper, or a mechanical means of influencing people, like pushing buttons on a machine; it's closer to what it was in, for example, Ancient Egypt - true language brings us close to the divine, or closer. <br /><br />To use language badly, mechanically, to obfuscate, seems to me not merely slovenly and coarse, but indecent. If i'm right in supposing that the gods gave us language, as a special gift - then one's attitude, when writing, should be 'this i do for the greater glory of god' - and this for the jeu d'esprit, for Wodehouse-like buffoonery, as much as for Dantean penetration.<br /><br />i always have a vague anxiety that i will be judged by what i have written & said, as much as by my behaviour; that ill-considered, meretricious words will be a noose around my neck, one day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-71110725451656707532009-07-31T04:56:17.049-04:002009-07-31T04:56:17.049-04:00In the UK we have the RAE (Research Assessment Exe...In the UK we have the RAE (Research Assessment Exercise). Every 7 years or so, every academic must put forward 4 pieces of research for peer evaluation. So the bad news is you have to produce at least 4 (although I never considered this to be so very much over seven years), but the good news is that those pieces will be rigorously assessed. The money the government gives to the university is based on the quality of the research.<br /><br />The culture of academia has become overly obsessed with quantity of publication, but for most people working within it, the need to be productive is written into their contract and the process they're on, as much as being a personal and careerist choice. The danger of this is not just to the integrity of the researcher (and I agree with you wholeheartedly about that, having witnessed career academics producing the classic salami article - you can slice it up every which way and use it again) but to the students we have the responsibility of teaching. <br /><br />That contribution to knowledge you mention emerges gradually, organically, from the process of continual, profound discussion in which teachers and students explore every angle and aspect of a text and enlighten each other. The rush to publication cuts through this, cauterizes it, makes knowledge something we grasp too fast and pass on without caution or reconsideration. Everyone loses out this way, from the student to the teacher to the institution to the field of knowledge. I really think we should all slow down.litlovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952927245186474480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-55358127557445435482009-07-30T18:20:03.638-04:002009-07-30T18:20:03.638-04:00Here is my response to your posting at Books, Inq....Here is my response to your posting at Books, Inq.<br /><br />"D. G. Myers' carefully crafted argument on the subject of literary criticism--which I admire for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I am almost always impressed by the author's sensibilities and erudition--reminds me of my proper (and humble) position in this ongoing debate. Let me explain what I mean in the form of a baseball metaphor, which Professor Myers might enjoy: While many in academia are in the big leagues (and many have earned "golden gloves" and MVP awards), I--on the other hand--am a simple journeyman who will be (for many reasons) forever bouncing around in the double-A (or even the triple-A) levels of the minors; I love playing the game, but I could never match up well with the fastballs and hard sliders that I would have to deal with if I were moved up to the big show. Still, to repeat my assertion, I do love the game, which is why I keep playing though I know that my skill levels are limited (i.e. I'm not a natural athlete)."R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.com