Elizabeth
Jeff says you are being too idealistic, I think you are being just a
little naive. For one thing I just don't see how you can make an
analogy with film studies - the status of film and the way it
functions within society is a completely different thing to poetry.
And your comment about academics not being obliged to 'lay claim' to
what they are talking about ignores the psychological relationship
that those outside of academia have with something inside academia
(the problem with this is mainly to do with literature etc, not the
sciences). I haven't said that very well, sorry. I have talked about
this before on this list though.
I am not against academic involvement and engagement with poetry, or
any sort, that would be absolutely stupid and nonsensical. However, I
do think that the various effects that such an involvement have need
to be tracked and taken into account.
All the best
Tim A.
On 19 Oct 2009, at 23:16, Elizabeth James wrote:
> Just because academics decide to talk about something doesn't mean
> they can or desire to lay claim to it. Most literature is already
> studied academically without any particular impact on its other
> audiences. An even better example probably is film studies.
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