I just turned down a publication opportunity because I have too much on my plate that is more important, the paper is not written, the due date is early August, it's a collection of essays and not a major journal, and the topic--the religious and social implications of Bobble Head Jesus, which I saw on the local news being sold at the local major league baseball team's Christian Day--so much to work with there!--is at best tangential to what I'm working on. I think that I can find a home for Bobble Head Jesus later. Or maybe the blog is the best home for him. The editor was interested enough based on our correspondence to include my essay in the proposal for the book without confirming with me that I actually would write the essay and to create a title for my project without telling me. Incidentally, the title was decidedly not what the essay would have been about had the essay come into existence. And the proposed cover image for the book made me sicker to my stomach than--well, than Bobble Head Jesus made me. I may go to hell just for having seen it. But I think that was the point.
Hey--I think I just wrote my first potentially professionally dangerous post. But I highly doubt that the editor will see it or that he will have any sort of impact on my professional life. But I would like to add that I have the utmost respect for him and his project and that my only real complaint is a drastic difference in taste. And to be perfectly fair, he offered me the chance to read the proposal and, I assume, approve or change the title. I was just surprised that it had a title!
So this leads me to the topic of grad student publishing. I am certainly not being snobbish here in declining this opportunity. If the timing were better, I would jump on it. I know that a collection of essays is better than nothing and that if the publisher is reputable, then a collection of essays is great. I don't know if I should have turned it down or just sucked it up and churned the thing out--it's another issue of prioritizing, and I don't know what is more important--focusing on my dissertation or publishing an article so I might get a job later. I do have an article not on my diss topic that I hope to submit this fall and then I hope to have another one in good shape by the end of the fall before the baby comes (BTW, due date is Christmas Day). I really am not sure where publication should fit into my priorities--which is a question for the Absent Advisor who will soon be present again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Mentioning going to hell may be potentially professionally damaging; writing the article may have been also if it was that dangerous mixture of pop culture and religion--both fairly marginalized. You are likely "getting away with" the religious topic in the first place because you are so firmly grounded in literature that has its own uncontested place in the current non-canonical canon.
My mom still talks about the "Electric Jesus" that my aunt bought at a garage sale and hung in an early apartment: a framed picture of the Last Supper (not sure if it was Da Vinci or not)that had light bulbs behind it illuminating the image and a cord hanging down from it. Aah, the 70s!~
To Anonymous #1: I think (hope) that I am entering the discussion on religion and culture at an excellent time. Respected scholars have come out with books and essays lately addressing the resistance to religion in academic studies and asserting that such neglect is irresponsible. It is possible that my proclaimed sub-speciality in religion and culture could turn off potential employers, but I hope that it will have the opposite effect, especially with the growing interest in cultural studies and interdisciplinary research and teaching.
It is easier to address religion in Southern literature because regionalism implies otherness and if religion can be examined as the culture of an "other" it is easier for academics to take. (wow--bold statement--I better be careful where I say that!)
It is easier to address religion in Southern literature because regionalism implies otherness and if religion can be examined as the culture of an "other" it is easier for academics to take.
Touché! Very nice!
Post a Comment