welcome aboard, Tim, away from the Mines of Moria

I already knew he was an OOO convert since last month, but TIM MORTON IS VERY MUCH WELCOME TO THE PARTY. He’s a publishing machine who writes beautifully and makes many funny remarks in his emails.

But I especially love his characterization of New Historicism. Not that I mind that movement too much, having translated Largier’s whipping book myself, and having also enjoyed everything by Stephen Greenblatt that I’ve ever read. But still, this is funny:

“I’m an English Prof. who was trained at the height of New Historicism, which meant that you had to run to the library every couple of hours to read a few hundred more books and pamphlets. It felt like being a dwarf in the mines [of] Moria. The object of the exercise if you’re a historian is to get a big grant, go to some mine (library) that no one looks at very much, and find some unknown stuff, then bring it back and show everyone your jewels. It’s kind of lonely–ironically, because history is supposed to be about society and all.”