Katherine Rybkin
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): John Buckley
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: English Language & Literature / LSA
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Oral5
Session: Session 1 – 10am – 10:50am
Room: Breakout Room 5
Authors:
Presenter: 3
Abstract
The world of undergraduate literary journals is an increasingly expanding subsystem of the literary and academic worlds. Though young people have been traditionally marginalized in academia as ‘unexperienced’ or not yet having earned their place, during the past fifty years the number of literary journals has increased exponentially, bringing along with them an unprecedented access to creative self-expression that is backed by establishment approval. Though this project tracked some practical quantitative features of journals such as volume/issue number, publication date, and the number of prose vs. poetry vs. art pieces, the data recorded was primarily focused on qualitative observations about the journals. This included details such as how they presented themselves and the works in them, how they advertised themselves to undergraduates and writers, how pieces are introduced in regards to author demographics (i.e. whether authors are identities hidden until the end of the journal, where they are included in contributor notes, or presented upfront with the piece as bylines), and whether or not the journal would be more likely to publish more established authors or serve as a platform for newer, previously unpublished authors. The results have shown that many up-and-coming journals are breaking into the literary scene both with regards to their credibility and by helping authors they publish become established. This seems to be due to the fact that newer journals are more likely to publish more experimental and trend-setting pieces, rather than conforming to existing literary paradigms, and are more likely to consider newer authors for their talent rather than their experience in the literary world, thus leading to an increased democratization of literary self-expression.
Arts and Humanities, Interdisciplinary
