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THE OSCHOLARS: Special Teleny
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FOREWORD |
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D.C. Rose |
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General
Editor, www.oscholars.com |
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We are delighted that this
special issue of THE OSCHOLARS, hors
séries in the useful French phrase, has been brought to fruition under
the editorship of Professor John McRae of the University of Nottingham, the
first editor of a scholarly edition of Teleny. This is the first time that Teleny has been the subject of
sustained scholarly attention. |
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There are
some texts which attract an overwhelming amount of critical
analysis and exegesis, and there are some, which although not lost to sight,
seem only to attract curiosity. Teleny, whether ascribed to Oscar
Wilde justly or unjustly, has received little critical scrutiny beyond the
introductions to the various editions, and few have access to all of these.
We have begun to assemble here the materials for a serious consideration of
the text in order to enable us to come to some understanding of the potential
of Teleny for literary study /
scholarly scrutiny, rather than simply pigeonholing it as ‘erotica’ or ‘gay
interest’. Just as we tend to collapse the difference between the
pornographic and the erotic in critical discourse, so we may collapse the
difference between the erotic novel and the novel tout court.
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Given the flexible form of
internet publishing, we are not closing down the issue. As well as keeping the bibliography up to
date, we plan to seek more essays on the form of Teleny, the imagery, the linguistics, the onomastics, the
problems of translation, the use of flawed or authoritative texts, its
function as fantasy versus experience ...
A study of the cover illustrations alone would produce interesting
insights of how Teleny is presented
to different audiences across time and territory; and future editions will no
doubt reflect changing ideas and emphases.
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This Special Issue of THE
OSCHOLARS is therefore both a celebration of what we have, and a Call for
Papers on what we have still to find.
Wilde himself paved the way in The
Portrait of Mr W.H., in exploring the complexities of criticism and
attribution. We can only follow. |
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