[INDOLOGY] Statement Regarding the Murty Classical Library of India

Wed Mar 6 00:28:41 UTC 2024

Dear all,

I very rarely write to this list to simply voice an opinion, but I think I
will break my own rule in this case, because the question has arisen of
what we, as scholars, can do in a situation like this. The answer, I am
sorry to say, is not very much. That is by design. MCLI is published by
Harvard University Press, which, while technically a non-profit, is a
non-profit the same way that Harvard University is, with an endowment
bigger than the GDP of most countries. The press is a business, concerned
with brands, markets, and intellectual property. When there was a general
editor, it was somebody's job to care about scholarly matters, but that has
not been the case at MCLI for several years now. The big picture is that,
once the decision was made to house MCLI at a big, rich, prestigious,
complex, institution, "their reality is the one that matters" (as someone
closely involved with MCLI once said). The editors and translators of the
series ultimately work for the institution, as HUP has demonstrated on
multiple occasions, most recently with the firing of the entire editorial
board.

That is unfortunate, especially because I had hoped that a big endowment
would free the series from some of the caprices of patronage that we might
have worried about (remember CSL?). But even if the "portfolio" of MCLI has
a lot of money attached to it, it's still not a portfolio that we, the
scholars, have any control over whatsoever, or any right to. (Indeed, I had
to sign away all of my rights for my translation of *Līlāvaī*, and I would
bet that the same is true for every other book published in the series.)

If we, the scholarly community, ever undertake a project like this again, I
would hope that its future would depend to a much greater extent on the
people who actually do the scholarly work.

Andrew

On Tue, Mar 5, 2024 at 5:01 PM Jan E.M. Houben via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> Thanks for drawing attention to this disturbing situation.
> While profoundly appreciative and grateful for the monumental achievements
> of MCLI so far, thanks to the generous funding and the engagement of
> sincere scholarship and administration, I fully support both points brought
> forward by Brendan.
> Perhaps so, but it is indeed questionable whether anything can be expected
> by writing to the current interim provost or any senior administrator at
> Harvard University, who, no doubt having more pressing concerns at present,
> are only in the most formal way "ultimately responsible" for what happens
> according to MCLI's self-adopted and self-funded mission
> https://www.murtylibrary.com/about/our-mission
>
> All best,
>
> Jan Houben
>
> On Tue, 5 Mar 2024 at 15:33, Brendan Gillon via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> I too agree that the Murty Classical Library of India is a valuable book
>> series and its discontinuation would be a loss to Indology. I would be
>> happy to sign a letter to that effect.
>>
>> I would in no circumstances sign a letter censuring someone without
>> having heard the accused person's side of the story. It is a fundamental
>> principle of law: `audi alteram partem' (`let the other side be heard').
>>
>> Cordially yours,
>>
>> Brendan Gillon
>>
>>
>> On 3/5/24 02:20, Asko Parpola via INDOLOGY wrote:
>>
>> This is a stain on Professor Parimal Patil and on Harvard University. I
>> do hope the Provost of Harvard will set the matter right.
>>
>> Asko Parpola, Professor Emeritus of South Asian Studies, University of
>> Helsinki
>>
>>
>>
>> On 4. Mar 2024, at 20.58, Robert P. GOLDMAN via INDOLOGY
>> <indology at list.indology.info> <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>> This is deeply disturbing although, alas, hardly surprising. It reflects,
>> no doubt ,political interference with this groundbreaking and outstanding
>> scholarly series. List members should add their voices to those of  the
>>  former members of the editorial board.
>>
>> Dr. R.P. Goldman
>> William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus
>> and
>> Joint Editor of the South Asia Across the Disciplines  Publication Series
>> Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
>> Berkeley, CA 94720-2540
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 4, 2024, at 8:29 AM, Archana Venkatesan via INDOLOGY
>> <indology at list.indology.info> <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Respected Colleagues,
>>
>> With apologies for cross-posting, please see the attached communication
>> from the former editors of the Murty Classical Library of India.
>>
>> Archana
>>
>> --
>> *"When writers die they become books, which is, after all, not too bad an
>> incarnation."*  Jorge Luis Borges
>>
>> Archana Venkatesan <https://archana.faculty.ucdavis.edu/> (
>> archana.faculty.ucdavis.edu)
>> Graduate Advisor, Graduate Program in the Study of Religion
>> <https://religionsgrad.ucdavis.edu/> (2022-2024)
>> *Professor, Religious Studies and Comparative Literature*
>> Phone: 530-754-2821 (Office)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> <Statement regarding the Murty Classical Library of India.pdf>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing listINDOLOGY at list.indology.infohttps://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>> --
>>
>> Brendan S. Gillon                       email: brendan.gillon at mcgill.ca
>> Department of Linguistics
>> McGill University                       tel.:  001 514 398 4868
>> 1085, Avenue Docteur-Penfield
>> Montreal, Quebec                        fax.:  001 514 398 7088
>> H3A 1A7  CANADA
>>
>> webpage: http://webpages.mcgill.ca/staff/group3/bgillo/web/
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>
>
> --
>
> *Jan E.M. Houben*
>
> Directeur d'Études, Professor of South Asian History and Philology
>
> *Sources et histoire de la tradition sanskrite*
>
> École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE, Paris Sciences et Lettres)
>
> *Sciences historiques et philologiques *
>
> Groupe de recherches en études indiennes (EA 2120)
>
> *johannes.houben [at] ephe.psl.eu <johannes.houben at ephe.psl.eu>*
>
> *https://ephe-sorbonne.academia.edu/JanEMHouben
> <https://ephe-sorbonne.academia.edu/JanEMHouben>*
>
> *https://www.classicalindia.info* <https://www.classicalindia.info>
>
> LabEx Hastec -- *L'Inde Classique* augmentée: construction, transmission
>
>      et transformations d'un savoir scientifique
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20240305/cceb2a92/attachment.htm>