Academic writing is often describe as inherently about the self and identity - think I've made similar comments recently myself. But today at the conference, after having a casual conversation with someone about our common experience of trying to get our conference paper published in the HERD journal, I realised that writing papers for journals is a very collaborative process. And I want to extend this point to say - that all writing is collaborative.
We talk to others about what we plan to write, we discuss with others the problems and joys we're having in articulating our argument, we consult with others as we try to construct, re-construct and de-construct our argument and we seek advice, sympathy, commiseration, and guidance from others when we are struggling, grappling, suffocating as a result of the writing or reviewing process. And through this involvement of 'others' the text, the paper, becomes a co-construction with multiple others. And so our writing becomes a reflection of this very dialogic (in all senses of the concept, extending beyond the Bakhtinian consideration of the self and the intended reader) and collaborative process. So while my name might be on the paper, the thesis, or the book, the many 'silent' collaborators leave their contribution to the manuscript like soft fingerprints on glass. I rather like this realisation; reminding me once again that I can only be, because of others.
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