Reinventing who we are, again….and again. ISMLL 312-30

The most significant thing I’ve learned from my first quarter as a graduate student in English Composition has less to do with perspectives on library research and contemporary composition theory and everything to do with the fact that I really had no clue what I was getting into. I thought an M.A. in Composition was going to make be a “better” writer (whatever that means) and help me stake a claim in the professional world of journalism and/or noveling. I imagined myself eating at different restaurants throughout the world and reporting my critiques in a renowned food magazine of sorts. I imagined practice in composition was going to help me compose a book about my life worth selling on bookstore (and even supermarket) shelves. Who knew that composition practice comes with composition studies and that even composition itself often questions its own place, not only within the academy, but within society as well? For Bruce Robbins, in his epilogue to the third edition of Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literatures, the English scholar has a place in society—as he makes his position obvious with the title of his essay, “The Scholar in Society.” However, he touches on a variety of topics regarding this “place” in society that leaves much to question. For example, is it the job of the scholar to change the world or interpret it? Is the “crisis of the humanities” a temporary crisis or a “structural weakness” within the humanities itself? And, How much should a teacher’s job matter to her/himself and in what ways is (or isn’t) that job connected to culture and society? All in all, Robbins asserts that in all its correlation and contradiction, we must embrace our field of work and recognize our responsibility to society, while using this challenge to “reinvent [ourselves] for decades to come” (327).

I suppose reinventing ourselves is not only the best option, but quite possibly the only one that makes sense. Recent composition theory reveals that composition as an academic discipline is loosely grounded in the foundations of the academy. In fact, many universities around the nation are cutting budgets and victimizing composition departments for wrongs that can hardly be attributed to the departments themselves. Truth is, composition studies on a whole is in question and university administrators are freaking out. Sadly, if only such administrators took the time to look a little harder they may have come to the realization that:

Composition is an academic discipline in the making. Composition is always up for debate, topic for discussion, and keyword in controversial conversations. Composition is the study of language and meaning, but it is also that very language and meaning being studied. Composition is a field that is open to be defined and if we, as its practitioners, accept the numerous calls to action, it’s up to us to help define or even re-define it. Composition is best understood when its definition is peppered with uncertainties—that is the nature of the discipline and understanding this is the first step in harnessing its place for the future.

Whatever concentration within the English field you are a part of and whether or not you think your duty is to change or interpret the world, one certainty is that you have a significant place in society. But you didn’t need me or Robbins to tell you that did you? Because it’s you who’s reinventing that place each time you research, write, and teach. Let’s keep it going, because for starters, it motivates rookies like me to want to jump in the mix with you.