Ne AATSEELom edinym: SLAVIC at MLA!

[Gerald McCausland]

At 08:50 PM 12/1/97 -0500, Ernest Scatton wrote:

>A constructive response to MLA's tactics is (1) to let your membership
>lapse...or not join in the first place: you can read the publications in
>the library and (2) to not attend the meeting. If you have a job opening
>and you're going to interview at all at meetings, do it at AAASS or
>AATSEEL.
>

Professor Scatton's first suggestion may or may not be the correct one, but
it certainly is not a *constructive* one. The lack of Slavists at the MLA
is a self-perpetuating problem; quitting guarantees our continued
marginalization.

We would do well to remember that our colleagues in the fields of English,
German, French, Spanish, Comp. Lit., lesser-taught languages, etc.
attending the MLA have all paid the registration fee as well as taken on
the same costs of transportation and lodging that we have. None of these
people can get a reduced conference fee for only attending one or two
sessions. Don't we Slavists seem to be asking for a special dispensation
from the registration fee simply because we "happen to be in the
neighborhood"? I find the MLA's refusal to work with us offensive, but not
unreasonable from their point of view.

The real problem seems to be the obscenely high fee charged by the MLA for
*all* meeting attendees. Only by remaining members do we have a voice in
the organization and the *right* to work for a change to this and other
objectionable policies. Of course, many will insist that the MLA as an
orgainization is about as reformable as the erstwhile Soviet Union and a
waste of our time and money. I'm really not sure what my answer to that is.
For me, the chance for even limited interaction with scholars in other
languages/disciplines is worth hanging in there for now.

What I am sure of is that, given the general sentiment among Slavists, it
is totally incomprehensible why any Slavic department would interview at
the MLA job center rather than at the AATSEEL hotel site.

Jerry.


------------------------
Jerry McCausland
University of Pittsburgh
gmmst11+ at pitt.edu