Funky Doctoral Theses Chosen For Publication

"The Lesbian Imagination" and "The Demon-Lover" are among the Harvard doctoral dissertations selected to be published for the first time this year by Garland Publishing, a Manhattan-based firm specializing in the publication of unusual texts.

The previously unpublished dissertations, written over the past 40 years, include topics in comparative literature, American history and political science and American and English literature.

The press will publish the works because "many things that are important to scholars don't get put into print," said Gary A. Henderson, acquisitions editor at Garland.

"This work fills a significant gap in scholarly research. Previously, Harvard dissertations were difficult to obtain, even on microfilm," said Warren Professor of American History Emeritus Frank B. Freidel. Freidel and the current Warren professor, Ernest R. May, made the selections in the area of American history and political science.

Many Harvard dissertations are not available on microfilm, and scholars must visit the University Archives to obtain dissertations written before the early 1980s.

Geoffrey H. Movius '62 (Ph.D. '71), assistant to the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for development, said he was surprised that his thesis, entitled "The Early Prose of William Carlos Williams, 1917-1925," was being published now.

"It is nice to have some [dissertations] gleaming through the cracks at this point," Movius said.

Movius said he believes "any publishing effort that increases access to scholarly writing is not only a boon to the field but to the individuals working in the field."

"Garland is bringing out many important works that would otherwise be unavailable," agreed Robert J. Polito, a professor of English at Wellesley College.

Polito, who received his Ph.D. in 1980, said he had changed the direction of his work since writing his dissertation, "At the Titan's Breakfast: Three Essays on Byron's Poetry." He said he no longer planned to revise it for publication now that Garland is bringing out the dissertation.

Garland will publish one work on poet Elizabeth Bishop even though part of the dissertation appeared in a special issue of "World Literature Today."

Lloyd Schwartz, an associate professor of English at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, knew Bishop personally. The interviews Schwartz used in his thesis were the first the poet had ever given about her work, he said. "She was very shy about her poetry, and I was nervous about how she would react to my idea," said Schwartz.