ABC blog: Final reflections

For the whole series, click on the letter

Previous entries, A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X Y Z  Å  Ä  Ö 

A marathon is a marathon, and it has its advantages and disadvantages. Running like this through forty plus years of my academic career, covering my main areas of interest, noting my achievements and failures, has been gratifying. The format of a blog post is a bit like an encyclopedic entry where you are given two hundred words to cover a subject on which you'd prefer to write a book, or in fact have written a book. But it makes you think carefully. The day-by-day rule implies that I didn't have time to consider my entries. Looking back, I probably would have chosen a different word. But it is the way it is now. I am not going to cheat and edit. And yet, the selection of words really reflects what I am doing or have done, and it was particularly interesting to consider some areas where I haven't done anything for a long time. Shall I revisit Jung or is he completely outdated? Shall I try to resuscitate kenotype or is there no need for this term? Will I ever use syllepsis again?

Of course it is also clear from the entries that certain topics are pervasive: narrative and time and Bakhtin. While five years ago I would not even consider empathy.

I have had some very good responses to this series, so obviously it hasn't just been useful for myself. Thank you for your support, y'all. Several people have suggested that I should publish it as a book, so if there are some publishers out there, I think it is a brilliant idea. With illustrations by Clémentine Beauvais.