Comments on: It’s MLA Season!

By: S

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:26:31 +0000

Apropos of clever titles, the idea that one’s thesis title needs to go “snappy phrase: longwinded account of what your thesis is actually about” is very sweetly referred to in my department as “post-colonial theory”.

By: Frolic

Frolic — Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:51:26 +0000

I’m still a little shell shocked from the conference, but I will offer a comment I heard while eating lunch next to two Victorianists: “The study moved from Middlemarch to Bleak House. That was really ballsy.”

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Thu, 30 Dec 2004 22:31:37 +0000

Ah, that’s a great quotation from Smith. (Dang, I need to read the Theory of Moral Sentiments. Have been meaning to for ages.) That’s probably where Goldstein got it – she is a philosopher (married to a physicist, so it all kind of joins up). How very amusing. (The idea is in her first novel, The Mind-Body Problem, in case anyone was wondering. Quite wittily expressed.)

By: lemuel pitkin

lemuel pitkin — Thu, 30 Dec 2004 21:36:42 +0000

the inverse ratio between solidity of findings and obsession with presentation of self? Mathematicians don’t need to impress anyone, so they don’t; literaturians, at the opposite end of the scale, do, so they do. Adam Smith has a nice passage on this in The Theory of Moral Sentiments: Mathematicians and natural philosophers, from their independency upon the public opinion, have little temptation to form themselves into factions and cabals, either for the support of their own reputation, or for the depression of that of their rivals. They are almost always men of the most amiable simplicity of manners, who live in good harmony with one another, are the friends of one another’s reputation, enter into no intrigue in order to secure the public applause, but are pleased when their works are approved of, without being either much vexed or very angry when they are neglected. It is not always the same case with poets, or with those who value themselves upon what is called fine writing. They are very apt to divide themselves into a sort of literary factions; each cabal being often avowedly, and almost always secretly, the mortal enemy of the reputation of every other, and employing all the mean arts of intrigue and solicitation to preoccupy the public opinion in favour of the works of its own members, and against those of its enemies and rivals.

By: Adam Kotsko

Adam Kotsko — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 18:37:27 +0000

I think Ophelia should be invited to do a guest post on the MLA, since every third comment on this thread is from her. Thanks!

By: Another Damned Medievalist

Another Damned Medievalist — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 17:56:22 +0000

As if people wouldn’t know who Mark Knopfler was … ok, they might if they are neither Dire Straits fans or folkies (but damn, the man can write some good songs). Even in History, titles can be touchy. When colleagues note my dissertation title, they tent to mention how “old fashioned” it is—no catchy phrase with colon. I like to think of it as informative and to the point. And maybe Retro. A colleague in English, however, claims his advisor told him that the title was as important as the content, and that it must be in the ‘Witty but unclear/unrelated Catchphrase: Superlong description that tries to make the catchphrase sensible’ format.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:10:59 +0000

But isn’t it really duck season?

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:08:56 +0000

Shorter John Holbo (as written by the man himself): I have ever so much more to say. Thanks for the epiphany!

By: Bucky

Bucky — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:09:15 +0000

Knopfler’s best known for the Money for Nothin/MTV trope but in the early 80’s he wrote a song called Telegraph Road that was brilliant, and brilliantly performed – pretty much a lyrical summation of human history side by side with a concise chronology of the plucked string. From wandering vagabond and simple acoustic melody to 10-lane rush-hour traffic and absolutely raging electric guitar.

By: digamma

digamma — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 03:32:32 +0000

Reason even came to the MLA’s defense from this article: “The plain fact is, most of the panels don’t have bizarre titles and most of them are devoted to recognizable subject areas, historical periods, and serious examination of new and old texts that are important to people in their respective fields.” Home in Philly for the holidays, I had a look at the conference schedule today and, wow, there’s an incredible amount of genuinely interesting material. Having just seen Ocean’s 12, I think it shouldn’t be too hard for me to sneak into a few sessions without a badge….

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 23:12:18 +0000

“So it’s not so much that self-presentation isn’t important, it’s that a different set of self-presentations is highly valued.” Wull – same thing, dude!

By: drapeto

drapeto — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 22:27:11 +0000

What is necessarily wrong with having a panel discussion of “The Passion of Christ”? someone needs to update hofstatder’s anti-intellectualism in american life with a section on disdain for intellectuals who consider the popular is a motif of populist discourse. the nyt is under the impression that if they bash anyone with a whiff of leftitude or intellectuality (“eggheads!”), ann coulter will start saying they are a bastion of down-home righteousness. if they can publish judith miller, why wouldn’t they publish bs about the mla? If the author was going to have so much fun with the conference, I wish he had focused on the more political titles. right….. they should make their agenda even more obvious, for the vision-impaired. ps. for the rockistly-impaired, does Sailing to Philadelphia have anything to do with Sailing to Byzantium?

By: Matt McGrattan

Matt McGrattan — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:43:55 +0000

“..a mathematician who came to give a lecture dressed in a suit and tie, or who prepared an elaborate PowerPoint presentation, would be looked at a bit strangely.” ANYONE who gives an elaborate PowerPoint presentation, ought, as a matter of course, to be be looked at strangely. There’s rarely, if ever, an excuse for it—with the possible exception of a tiny minority of scientists and/or social scientists who need some conventient framework they can use to embed a lot of data, charts, video, etc. And anyone who uses those “whoosh” noises or has bullet points that fly in from the side, deserves to be ostracised from their chosen profession forever—or at the absolute minimum denied tenure for bringing their discipline into disrepute.

By: J. Ellenberg

J. Ellenberg — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:12:42 +0000

But Ophelia, a mathematician who came to give a lecture dressed in a suit and tie, or who prepared an elaborate PowerPoint presentation, would be looked at a bit strangely. So it’s not so much that self-presentation isn’t important, it’s that a different set of self-presentations is highly valued.

By: pedro

pedro — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:01:19 +0000

My oh my… hush Jordan… you’re shattering my expectations of the AMS/MAA meetings! I guess when my turn comes to go, I’ll have to impersonate my current subjects of study.