Literary Conversations
It strikes me, my dears, that we have been enacting elements of 18thc literary culture on the Wikipedia talkpage of Susanna Centlivre. Though which is foremost I cannot say: the fierce parry and thrust of sharp debate, the scurrilous mud-slinging of Grub Street, or the comedy of errors, complete with beleaguered maidens and blocking figures. It also strikes me that the whole kerfuffle is an object lesson in what happens when a woman picks up the pen (or keyboard) and enters into the hostile public sphere.
Only, like Cavendish's Lady Victoria, the woman in question also has an army of Amazons.
I would suggest that we all retire to the country for a period of contemplation, and debrief next week.
posted at 1:18 p.m. | Permanent link
6 Comments:
I, for one, have eaten my last frozen yoghurt. The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth.
Luckily, the change I was most invested in somehow managed to stay in the article even though it's the point being contested.
I give up. I quit on the grounds that Oxford UP books have more academic clout than Wikipedia.
I was feeling the same way, but then for some odd reason this morning I started adding categories to the various stubs I made, so I still seem to be invested. In one sense G. is correct: one person should not be able to stop one from doing something one sees as worthwhile. And, he explicitly invites more editing of the article, in his last post to the talk page, so if anyone is still inclined ...
He does seem to be unable to admit any error on his part. I had to laugh reading the page to which Brenna linked about the treatment of newcomers, as he and B. between them had violated about half of it. It seems clear, though, that if any of us expect any acknowledgement that he might have responded differently, we will be waiting a long time.
I am just sorry that this has become so distressing for the two of you, and for Marplot.
We will talk more.
Well, never let it be said that I cannot eat my words. There has just appeared what for G. must be a conciliatory post on the Talk page. So maybe we will be able to add the comic happy ending to our list of 18thc genres and tropes embodied in this discussion.
Hurray! I can't say G. and I see eye-to-eye on this, but at least everyone's being civil now.
The conversation seems to have worked itself out and that's nice. It started off kind of like a dog fight with dogs defending their territory and peeing in every corner; and then suddently we found out that the other dog actually wanted to play and not fight. This doesn't make any sense, does it? I still like it for its poetic value...
I found, if nothing else, I was actually more inclined to tune in to the underworld of wikipedia editors and users and what-have-you.
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