That Noise behind You? A Rival in the Stacks

Autor/in	Bartlett, Thomas
Titel	That Noise behind You? A Rival in the Stacks
Quelle	In: Chronicle of Higher Education, 55 (2008) 5, (1 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0009-5982
Schlagwörter	Authors; College Faculty; Scholarship; Competition; Research; Writing for Publication + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Author; Autor; Autorin; Fakultät; Scholarships; Stipendium; Wettkampf; Forschung
Abstract	Scholars spend years working on a book, toiling in archives, poring over sources, examining and re-examining data, only to discover that they are not alone. Someone else is working on more or less the same book. This article presents vignettes of scholars doing research for their books, thinking they are the first, yet feeling shocked at discovering others also working on similar themes. Some scholars, however, have been less flustered to encounter competition, or at least better at hiding their feelings. Mark Silver's book "Purloined Letters: Cultural Borrowing and Japanese Crime Literature, 1868-1937" (University of Hawaii Press) was published this year. Sari Kawana's book "Murder Most Modern: Detective Fiction and Japanese Culture" (University of Minnesota Press) was also published this year. But, according to Mr. Silver, there is enough room in the world for two books on Japanese detective fiction. In fact, he is glad to have the company. "It validates your own sense that you're working on something that is interesting and valuable," says Mr. Silver, a visiting assistant professor of Japanese studies at Middlebury College. Ms. Kawana, an assistant professor of Japanese at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, is similarly generous. "Rather than seeing these other people as competitors, you should cooperate with them," she says. "Ideally, you should work together to make the topic popular." There can be upsides to dueling books. It is easier to catch the attention of book reviewers, for one thing, which can help boost sales. Though often those reviewers prefer one book over the other. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Chronicle of Higher Education. 1255 23rd Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 800-728-2803; e-mail: circulation@chronicle.com; Web site: http://chronicle.com/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10