{"id":57611,"date":"2021-06-07T02:54:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T06:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=57611"},"modified":"2021-06-07T02:54:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T06:54:46","slug":"academic-writers-as-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writers-as-readers\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic writers as readers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Many academic writers are avid readers. That\u2019s because there is a strong connection \u2013 not causal, but surely correlated, she says hastily \u2013 between reading and writing. Reading and writing are mutually beneficial, they feed each other.<\/p>\n

I was thinking about the read-write connection just this morning as I sat reading the books section of the weekend newspaper.<\/p>\n

As I slurped down my breakfast smoothie \u2013 strawberry, raspberry and banana with yoghurt in case you want to know \u2013 I got stuck into the regular column where writers talk about the books that they read. And I realised that we tend not to have these kinds of conversations with academic writers. We don\u2019t ask what academic writers are reading at the moment, the books influenced them most, the book they wish they\u2019d written, the book they are ashamed not to have read, the book they couldn\u2019t finish, the book they always give as a gift.<\/p>\n

This omission is perhaps a little odd, as we are always making reference to books \u2013 we publicise our own, congratulate our friends on their publications, and recommend and review books in our field. But we tend not to focus on ourselves as readers. We don\u2019t seem to have a forum where we list current must-read academic books or share the new releases to read over summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m interested in what people read, and I do wonder why we don\u2019t have more writer-reader conversations. But perhaps the questions asked in Saturday\u2019s newspaper \u2013 influential books and so on \u2013 aren\u2019t the kind that academic writers can readily answer. Or are they? So I decided to have a bit of a play with them to see what my responses would be. And here they are.<\/p>\n

What are you reading at the moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got several things on the go. Academically, I\u2019m half way through Mieke Bal\u2019s (2002)\u00a0Travelling concepts in the humanities.<\/a>\u00a0A rough guide<\/em>\u00a0(U of Toronto Press), which is helping me to get somewhere in thinking about inter\/trans\/multi-disciplinary work. And I\u2019m dipping in and out of Laura Micchiche\u2019s (2017)\u00a0Acknowledging writing partners<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(University Press of Colorado, Boulder, OA) which I first bought because it had a chapter on writing with animal companions. With pictures. And graphs! But her book is much more than cats on keyboards and I do like her conclusion that academic writing has an \u201cexuberant vitality\u201d despite its \u201cperformative struggles\u201d, and leaves us with a \u201ccompletion afterglow\u201d. Non academic books? I\u2019m reading Michele Roberts (2020)\u00a0Negative capability. A diary of surviving<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Sandstone Press), her memoir about getting over her publisher rejecting a book manuscript. And for light relief I\u2019ve just started Ajay Chowdury\u2019s (2021) detective novel\u00a0The Waiter<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>(Vintage) about a failed Kolkata cop who ends up serving in a Brick Lane restaurant.<\/p>\n

What academic book influenced me most?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably Bourdieu\u2019s\u00a0Distinction<\/a><\/em>. I encountered this tome while I was doing my PhD. It was the first book I\u2019d read that brought together economics, education, work and cultural practices. And Bourdieu is still my go-to to explanation for everyday life\/experience, although I\u2019ve flirted with lots of other writers and ideas since then. But if I could name two or three influential books, then I\u2019d have to add Laurel Richardson\u2019s (1997)\u00a0Fields of Play. Constructing an academic life<\/a>\u00a0(Rutgers University Press) about being creative in social science writing, and Ruth Behar\u2019s (1996)\u00a0The vulnerable observer. Anthropology that breaks your heart<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Beacon Press) on ethical self and other care in research.<\/p>\n

What academic book do I wish I\u2019d written?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No question, it\u2019s Mike Rose\u2019s (1989)\u00a0Lives on the boundary. A moving account of the struggles and achievements of America\u2019s underclass.<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Penguin) Rose combines three strands: 1. a memoir of his own life, growing up as a poor Italian immigrant in LA and supported by a local parish priest to continue his education, 2. an account of the pedagogical practices at the University California Writing Centre which he ran, and 3. stories of the first gen uni students who came to the Centre for help. It\u2019s a wonderful example of a complex sociological narrative, beautifully written.<\/p>\n

What book am I ashamed not to have read?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well I have to say, in my field of education, it\u2019s probably anything by Vygotsky. I\u2019ve read lots about him and dipped in and out of some of his work but never really got stuck in. His work doesn\u2019t really resonate with me despite how influential it\/he is.<\/p>\n

What<\/strong>\u00a0book couldn\u2019t I finish?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Too many to even name. But one that stands out and nags at me every time I look at my bookshelf is Luhmann\u2019s\u00a0Risk.<\/a><\/em>\u00a0I do feel like I ought to get to grips with Luhmann. Even though I have deliberately sought out talks about his work I just find the prose off-putting. Don\u2019t @me please. We all have a Luhmann. We should talk about our Luhmanns more.<\/p>\n

What \u201cacademic\u201d book do I give as a present?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I often give people the not-really-academic books that have been given to me. So for quite a while it was Chris Kraus\u2019 (2006)\u00a0I love Dick<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Semiotexte) \u2013 so good on the experiences of white women of a particular generation (thanks Becky). But my friend Chris recently gave me Dider Eribon\u2019s\u00a0Returning to Reims<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(2013 Semiotexte), a sociological memoir about class, home and education. Eribon astutely gets to the ambivalences and awkwardnesses of class mobility. Lots of recognition and resonances in there for me. So this is my gift of choice at present. You see the theme here I\u2019m sure!<\/p>\n

So there you go. My reader writer responses. How would you answer these questions? Have a go. It\u2019s just a bit of slightly serious fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many academic writers are avid readers. That\u2019s because there is a strong connection \u2013 not causal, but surely correlated, she says hastily \u2013 between reading and writing. Reading and writing are mutually beneficial, they feed each other. 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