Literary Criticism Pulled Down From Ivory Towers: Dr. Elliot McGucken in the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/nation/120597nation.html\
Literary Criticism Pulled Down From Ivory Towers: Dr. Elliot McGucken in the NY Times

...And whether the academics accept it or not doesn't matter; because the dialogue that's developed online on the subject of Joyce and the likes of Melville, Fitzgerald, Camus, Shakespeare, and Hemingway adds instantly to the understanding of literature simply because of the depth of the online debate. It is simply unprecedented. . .KillDevilHill.Com and two related sites -- Western Canon University and The Jolly Roger, two avowed pro-Western canon communities that make little room for modern literature -- teem with discussion, the kind that goes well beyond freshman lit 101. On the Mark Twain discussion board, a visitor wonders aloud about the "aspects of nature" in the Royal Nonesuch performance in Huckleberry Finn. There are arguments over William Shakespeare's childhood in the Shakespearean section. Over on the Herman Melville board, posters discuss Ahab's use of the sea chart as a controlling mechanism and Ishmael's artistic nature. --NYT Cybertimes