[INDOLOGY] Statement Regarding the Murty Classical Library of India

Wed Mar 6 00:54:42 UTC 2024

Dear Colleagues,

I am posting this short clarification on behalf of the former members of
the MCLI Editorial Board. In light of the huge outpouring of support and
concern for us and MCLI, we wish to clarify two points.

1. That we, the former MCLI EB members, do not wish to speculate on the
reasons for our dismissal. We do not know why we were dismissed as no
concrete reason was provided to us. In fact, even as we were being
dismissed we were told that we could continue to work on editorial projects
that were of interest to us. The dismissal came as a surprise to us.

2. That we are not mounting a pressure campaign to be reinstated to the
MCLI EB. Our goal with the public statement is simply to shine a light on
what has transpired over the past 18 months and to urge the Provost's
Office to initiate a fair and thorough review of the Series.

Best,
Archana

On Tue, Mar 5, 2024 at 4:29 PM Andrew Ollett via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> 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
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>

-- 
*"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)
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