The Labor of Academic Journals: Or, Is Anyone Going to Read This?

abstract:In the arts and humanities, reading is both an obligation and an indulgence—on the one hand, reading another article or book chapter when you should be writing is the height of procrastination; on the other, reading is a fundamental prerequisite to knowing the field, situating oneself in it, and completing responsible research. In excerpts from the authors' ongoing oral history project with journal editors from the fields of theater and performance studies, the editors wonder: who is reading the materials that is published? What aspects of reading might be illuminated from the perspective of the people working to provide various disciplines with texts to read? Indeed, what if editors are the only ones reading some of the work in journals?