Peter Shillingsburg,
Professor of English, De Montfort University

Title: "Some Functions of Textual Criticism"

What is it about our profession that really matters and what is it about what I do professionally that really matters. The focus is on the humanities and the role of textual criticism within it as fundamental motives for conducting the work of textual scholarship and making its results available and accessible to others. What is involved in the work of textual criticism and why do errors matter; how does the critical nature of the work matter; and what are feasible ways of looking at the role of textual criticism in relation to new developments in taste and technology.

Biography

Peter L. Shillingsburg, Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Textual Studies at De Montfort University, holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He taught at Mississippi State University and at the University of North Texas before moving to De Montfort University. He has held visiting appointments at the University of New South Wales. His most recent book is From Gutenberg to Google: Electronic Representations of Literary Texts (2006). Other books include: Scholarly Editing in the Computer Age (1984, 1986, 1996); Resisting Texts: Authority and Submission in Constructions of Meaning (1997); Pegasus in Harness: Victorian Publishing and W. M. Thackeray (1992); A Literary Life of W. M. Thackeray (2001). He is general and textual editor of the Works of W. M. Thackeray (University of Michigan Press).