dilemma, part 1
[Apparently I’m into multi-part stories this week.]
When I walked away from academia, I half-expected I’d be back within three years. Several brilliant and supportive professors had assured me my work was publishable, so I figured I’d submit an article or two to journals and see how that went. At the very least, I knew it was good research (new research), and it felt silly to just abandon the articles.
So: I refined and rewrote and rewrote and proofed and sent it off to New England Quarterly. After four or five months, I got a slightly bewildering rejection,sans reader comments. When I inquired a bit more, they suggested I aim it at a more literary journal. My prof urged me to move on, a friend helped make the switch from Chicago to MLA, and I sent it off to Legacy just a month or two ago.
Bless their academic hearts, Legacy’s response was both quick and constructive:
Although it is very well written and engaging, ultimately, the argument that it advances is quite limited and does not fully engage with the ongoing conversations about Alcott and about later-nineteenth-century women writers generally.
You know what? I agree. It is a limited argument. It doesn’t fully engage with the ongoing conversations. It is fucking hard to fully engage with the ongoing conversations in academic sub-sub-fields if you are not in the Academy (or if you are in the Academy but occasionally sleep and eat).
So this essay will not be published, I think. Not now, and probably (realistically) not later. What do I do with it? Where does it go? There are a few things to consider here—and I think the consideration of them raises questions about academic publishing, credibility, and what makes knowledge (and thought) matter. I’m gonna try to tackle some of them, but the first is this:
- I am not going back to academia within three years. I found a job, I love my apartment, I like this godforsakenly sodden city, and I have laid down the law when it comes to living places without coffee shops. What’s more, I’ve discovered I like coding and being part of a faster-paced conversation. I’m no longer hedging my bets against this career, because I really, really like it.
