humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

On Mar 31, 4:09 am, Ignoto wrote:
> Tom Reedy wrote:
> > A poster on another board has said he thinks the upcoming decade will
> > see more establishment Shakespearean academics join into the
> > authorship debate and that they will eventually win it. I know last
> > year James Shapiro announced he was writing a book on it, but I
> > haven't heard of any others.
>
> > Does anybody think the same, and if so, how do you think the
> > antiStrats will fare and why?
>
> Are geologists planning on debating the flat earthers? Astronomers the
> geocentrists?

None of these groups have students coming into college asking about
their validity.

> If they did, what could they possible hope to gain?

Umm, dissemination of the truth? Last I recall, college was supposed
to have some hand in that.

> Rarely
> does the rational trump the irrational (and these boards would seem the
> living proof).

That is true, but ignoring the irrational while it makes headway
against the rational because of no response from academe is
irrational.

> If academics did weigh in on the 'debate' it would, I imagine, mainly be
> to protect 'hearts and minds' against the marketing onslaught of
> Oxfordianism. I doubt any would do it out of 'interest'- what is
> interesting about a cult that mistakes literary criticism for history?
> (Ok, perhaps studying the cult might be interesting, but engaging them
> in 'rational' debate? nada...)

Yes, it's hard to engage them in rational debate, because for the most
part their ideas of evidence is irrational and they continue to bring
up the same points long after they've been refuted (among other
things). But as you wrote, education of the students would be the main
reason, and I think the phenomenon is interesting in itself (I've been
saying that for 10 years, and I still find it interesting).

TR

> Ign.
>
> > TR