Footnotes, Endnotes, and HTML5: Blogging and the future of literary criticism

Conference paper presented at the ACCUTE (Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English), Calgary 2016.

Literary scholars were among the earliest adopters of digital dissemination of research; indeed, the field of Digital Humanities is populated heavily by people with PhDs in English, especially from areas like Renaissance literature where a large body of material is available in open source formats. As the Digital Humanities have expanded and other fields have embraced digital culture for dissemination of information, new issues around publishing and peer review, including the utility of open access journals, have emerged. These venues for publication and conversation offer a democratic approach to scholarly debate, often engaging academics and non-academics alike, and demanding acknowledgement of fan communities and their unique approaches to the close readings of texts. This intersection can frustrate traditionally-trained academics, but it can also enrich academic conversations and help connect the scholarship of literature to the real-world experiences of readers.