Literary Studies Inside Out: Notes Toward Critical University Press Studies.
Metadiscourse about literary criticism often presupposes a distinction between academia's inside, where we find authorized experts, and its outside, where we find "amateurs" and "the public." Think, for example, of the commonplace that publishers want academic books with "crossover appeal," that is,...
| Published in: | Victorian Poetry Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 65 - 98 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Johns Hopkins University Press
Spring2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=192850907&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 192850907 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00425206 VCP jtl: Victorian Poetry issn: 00425206 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Spring2026 vid: 63 iid: 1 pid: 226 pub: Johns Hopkins University Press artinfo: ui: 192850907 10.1353/vp.2025.a987313 ppf: 65 ppct: 33 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 875KB tig: atl: Literary Studies Inside Out: Notes Toward Critical University Press Studies. aug: au: Colesworthy, Rebecca su: University presses Scholarly publishing Labor market Academic discourse Precarious employment Literary criticism Higher education Scholarly communication sug: subj: University presses Scholarly publishing Labor market Academic discourse Precarious employment Literary criticism Higher education Scholarly communication keyword: amateurism collectivism critical university studies monographs public humanities scholarly publishing university presses Victorian studies ab: Metadiscourse about literary criticism often presupposes a distinction between academia's inside, where we find authorized experts, and its outside, where we find "amateurs" and "the public." Think, for example, of the commonplace that publishers want academic books with "crossover appeal," that is, the potential to attract the interest and dollars of a mythical lay reader. Such notions and terms, however, obscure the material conditions of intellectual production and consumption today: how adjunctification, the cratering of the tenure-track job market, underfunding, and attacks on education have fostered what I call "manufactured amateurism" within colleges and universities while driving PhDs into contingent and so-called alt-ac positions, as well as other industries entirely. From my vantage as a university press editor and independent scholar, I argue that there are divisions to be drawn not between inside and outside but, rather, between disparate professional roles, labor conditions, markets for scholarly writing, and access to resources. Redressing the striking absence of publishers from discussions of the state and fate of literary studies, I argue, moreover, that university presses have long occupied a constitutive outside, mediating among far-flung communities and collaborating with scholars to sustain fields such as Victorian studies—and journals such as Victorian Poetry —amid and despite widespread institutional disinvestment. Including publishers in these discussions—both engaging us as fellow knowledge workers and critically reflecting on the role of university presses—helps bring into relief the collectivism at the heart of scholarly work and create the [End Page 65] solidarity we desperately need if we want to strengthen and build our shared institutions anew. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Victorian Poetry is the property of Johns Hopkins University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Victorian Poetry holder: Johns Hopkins University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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