A few weeks ago at the Christianity and Literature conference, I struck up a conversation with a very nice woman while we were waiting for a session to begin. She told me that she was from California, that her research interest was the early novel, Daniel Defoe in particular, and she invited me to a conference her university was hosting next February.I told her that I was working on my doctorate at Ole Miss, that my areas of concentration are Restoration &18th century British Literature and Women’s Literature, and that I loved Jane Austen.
“Oh, yes,” she smiled. “Austen’s our ‘candy.’ What are you doing your dissertation on?” she asked.
“Jane Austen,” I replied.
I wish I had a picture of her face to post here.
2 comments:
Don't you love that not only do some people demean established fields in the discipline, but that they demean them by using food metaphors? How dare you call Austen "candy"? Sounds like another oblivious academic dines on foot.
@ Sarah--I thought you might enjoy this one. And, you know, she didn't just diss Austen--she dissed candy, too. In my book (pun intended), sweets are an integral part of the diet, a basic food group necessary for mental health.
I just realized how deep this food/books metaphor is going. :-)
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