E520: Literary Journals
I. Premier journals: [There are several journals which publish the very best scholarship in the field of early modern literary studies. These journals publish only articles which have been recommended by a panel of senior scholars in the field. In other words, they reject many more articles than they publish.]
ELH (English Literary History) publishes articles on English literature of all periods. In other words, only a few of the articles published here are on early modern literature. As its name suggests, this journal is particularly attuned to publishing scholarship with a historical grounding. Often this means that the articles have a cultural studies methodology similar to the one we are using in this course.
ELR (English Literary Renaissance). As its name suggests, this journal focuses on our period. ELR publishes many articles on early modern drama and has promoted scholarship with new historicist and cultural studies approaches.
JMEMS (The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, previously JMRS: the "R" meant Renaissance). This journal particularly favors articles with a historical or cultural studies approach and tries to promote interdisciplinary studies.
PMLA (the Publication of the Modern Language Association). In some ways, this is the premier journal in the field of literary studies. As the journal of the most important scholarly organization of literature (and foreign language) professors, this journal seeks to publish the very best scholarship in the profession. This means that it publishes articles on all literary topics, which, in turn, means that very few of the articles are ever about early modern English literature. In practice, PMLA is not the best source of articles on early modern literature, because many scholars don’t submit their articles to PMLA; however, if you find an article on your topic which has been published in this journal, you know it has received a highly coveted stamp of approval.
Renaissance Quarterly. This journal publishes articles on European literature including, but not primarily devoted to, the English Renaissance.
SEL (Studies in English Literature) has two issues per year devoted to early modern literature -- one on dramatic literature, the other on non-dramatic literature.
Shakespeare Quarterly. Published by the Folger Shakespeare Library, this has long been the premier journal dedicated to Shakespearean scholarship.
II. Second tier journals of note:
Renaissance Drama. This journal is an annual. Each year there is a special theme. Some years have been better than others.
Shakespeare Studies. Judge these articles on their own merits. Some are better than others.
Theatre Journal. This journal is less literary in its orientation and more oriented toward theater history and performance studies. Nonetheless, there have been a number of good articles on early modern drama published here in the last fifteen years.
The Upstart Crow. Something of an upstart itself, this journal is devoted to Shakespeare studies and is one to watch. It has a strong editorial board and has published some good articles lately.
III. Specialized journals:
Explicator. This journal publishes brief (BRIEF) close readings of particular passages in works of literature. The point seems to be to assist high school teachers and to air particular quibbles with other published readings of texts. The MLA database listing for these pieces is completely useless as it does not tell you which bit of a text the author has written about. The pieces published here are often highly suspect: there doesn’t seem to be much quality control. While you might find something here that would help you with your reading of a line or a scene, nothing in Explicator would qualify as a legitimate scholarly source for your term paper.
Notes and Queries. As its name suggests, this periodical publishes notes and questions by researchers who think they have found something interesting that others scholars will want to know or which they hope other scholars can help them find. This is a relic of the age before electronic discussion lists. Now most of this sort of scholarship happens on-line. You will not find critical articles here. I can’t think of a reason why anything from Notes and Queries would end up as a principal source for your paper.
IV. Electronic journals: [Reminder: the fact of publication is not a guarantee of excellence, especially in this age of electronic texts. These are refereed journals, but the level of scholarship is very different in the two.]
The Elizabethan Review. This journal is associated with the movement to declare that the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare's plays. It may contain some information of interest to students of early modern drama, but students should be aware that this journal's editorial stance places it in opposition to the main current of Shakespeare scholarship.
Renaissance Forum (University of Hull, UK) -- one of the best electronic journals devoted to early modern culture and literature studies.
For more electronic research information, check my "Links" page.
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You’ll have to evaluate other journals for yourself. Remember that not everything in print is equally authoritative. Remember, too, that you are entitled to your own readings of texts: the fact that a scholar has published a particular reading of a text, even in the most prestigious journal, does not preclude other readings of the same text -- yours included. No single reading of a play (especially a Shakespeare play) will ever be comprehensive: all readings are partial interpretations with particular focuses and agendas. You may have a new approach or a different critical lens through which to see the same material. The key to making a persuasive argument for your reading lies in your presentation of the case starting with the text. The same criteria apply to evaluating others’ arguments (including those published by professional academics). When you read a piece of criticism ask these questions: does the evidence presented support the case? has the author neglected or suppressed evidence for a strong counter-case? Have confidence in your own skills as a critic.