Observing the author–editor relationship: recordkeeping and literary scholarship in dialogue

Abstract

In the call for papers for this special issue, a lack of dialogue was noted between ‘archivists and literary scholars’. This article has arisen from a collaboration across that divide, between two individuals who between them embody multiple identities of archivist and publisher, archival and literary scholar. The purpose of this collaboration was to establish a common frame of reference which would encompass and give equal weight to the concerns and working contexts of both. To assist in this aim, both researchers agreed that neither the field of archives or of literary scholarship would be privileged. The focus in this study is on the relationship between the author and the editor within the academic publishing sector. With these parameters set as the starting point, research questions were drawn up from both perspectives to guide the project. These questions were, to some extent, addressed, but a more important outcome of the process was the development of a common frame of reference in which to continue the dialogue, through a broader and more abstract idea of the scholarly record and not just one of records as material resources for literary scholarship.