The Production of Literary Research Sources

Critic’s Tools: Textual Evidence Use to determine or support the truth of a claim.

Emily Dickinson Did Dickinson’s seclusion from society inform her poetry?

Possible Supporting Evidence Correspondence Biographies Poems Critics’ analyses OED

Post-Postmodern Evidence Text messages YouTube Tweets Digital Archives Poetry slams Blogs

Categories of Evidence Primary Secondary Tertiary

Primary sources AND

Secondary Sources Critical articles Book reviews Biographies Dissertations Conference Papers

Secondary Sources Critical Analysis: Catherine Golden’s article, “Marking Her Territory: Feline Behavior in "The Yellow Wall-Paper,” published in the periodical American Literary Realism, Book Review Janet Beer’s review of Golden’s book The Mixed Legacy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman appeared in the October 1, 2002 issue of Modern Language Review Biography Ann J. Lane’s To Herland and Beyond: The Life and Work Of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published by University of Virginia Press in 1997.

Tertiary Sources Literary dictionaries Encyclopedias Spark Notes OED

Tertiary Sources: Examples

Flow of Literary Evidence

Unpublished manuscript (ms)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Image: The Forerunner

Flow of Evidence: “Yellow Wall-Paper”

Primary Sources: Types of Editions Facsimile Variorum Authoritative Mass market/trade E-text

Authoritative Editions The authoritative edition is a fundamental tool in literary studies.

Authoritative Editions The reader is given what the author intended.

The purpose of a scholarly edition is to present a reliable text.

Incompetent editors, proof-correctors, and publishers.

Editor’s Misreading of Robert Southwell’s Letter to Samuel Pepys Authoritative edition: [I] lost my health by sitting many years near an inck bottle.” Unreliable edition: “[I] lost my health by sitting many years near a sack bottle.”

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Corrupted Editions box becomes fox cottage becomes cabbage bloody becomes beastly bugger becomes beggar

A.L. Rowse’s Corrupted Text of Romeo & Juliet Authoritative Shakespeare edition: “ Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo” Rowse’s edition: “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore are you, Romeo”

Expurgated Texts: Sniffing Out the Smut Richard Wright’s Native Son Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels Chaucer’s Wife of Bath

Corruption of a Text: YWP

YWP: Corruption of the text Reliable ed: John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. Unreliable ed. 1: John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that. Unreliable ed. 2: John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in men.

Yellow Wall-Paper: Corrupted Section Breaks

“Yellow Wall-Paper”: Publication History

How do I know my text is authoritative?

The best way to determine the authority of an edition is to read professional reviews of the edition.

Editor’s choice of the copy-text determines the reliability of an edition.

Julie Dock’s copy text for the YWP: The New England Magazine in January, 1892.The New England Magazine in January, 1892.

Authoritative Editions Explain the method used in determining the copy- text on which the edition is based. Cleanse text of corruptions Place the work in context Discuss conventions, styles, traditions Using sound textual principles, scholarly editors:

Current Authoritative Editions Uncollected primary works Recent scholarship

Summary Three types of literary sources (primary, secondary, tertiary) Creative works (e.g. novels) generate the flow of scholarly information. Five types of literary editions ( Facsimile, Variorum Authoritative, Mass market/trade, E-text) Authoritative editions are crucial to critical interpretations Locate authoritative editions through scholarly book reviews.

Types of Literary Scholarship Journal articles Conference papers Essays Books Dissertations

Who Writes Literary Scholarship? Professors Graduate students Independent scholars