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Published on: 1/1/2007
Last Visited: 9/1/2008
C.L. Bledsoe, editor of Ghoti Magazine, wrote an unusually lengthy email regarding the essay, and we thus engaged in brief debate (another lengthy email).He then decided to end it.Vigorous debate, cornerstone of democracy, is by no means cornerstone of the American literary scene.
Luck with the browbeating.I won't be responding to any more of your emails.
Oddly, Bledsoe had stated in his first email: "I agree with much of what you're saying."Yet he labeled the essay "rant."Ad hominem rhetoric is used by those lacking basic skills in argumentation and serves one purpose only: to restrict debate and reduce democracy.But how can an intelligent person agree with "rant"?The logic fails as all too often it does when academics and/or poets are criticized.That too is part of this essay.In his second email, Bledsoe reiterated:
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Bledsoe suggested I write another essay for him on the corporate co-optation of academe, which I'd mentioned in my correspondence.
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Bledsoe did not respond to that point either.His argument was that I wouldn't be able to effect change until I mastered the right tone."Men quarrel with your rhetoric," noted Emerson in his journal.
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Bledsoe thus asked if my reason was to "Piss people off?Why?
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"This is the real sticking point for me, as you can probably tell," wrote Bledsoe, regarding my not trying to effect change.
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Bledsoe did not respond to that point either.He was conveniently confusing wrong "tone" and "abrasive" (he also used that term) with something that would be career-risky to publish.Eliminating the "wrong" tone and "abrasiveness" would likely dilute the piece to the extent it would no longer be a highly critical piece targeting the literary milieu.
"Regardless, this is the inherit [sic] flaw in your essay—you establish no criteria for what is ‘good,'" wrote Bledsoe.
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