The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies: Germanic Sections vacant September 2020

3.09.2020 | Hans Beelen

The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies​: Germanic Sections vacant September 2020

Applications are invited from established scholars of Germanic languages and literatures to join the team of contributing editors of the bibliographical journal The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies.

Vacancies exist, or are likely to arise in the near future, in the following fields:

  • German Language and Linguistics
  • Medieval German Literature
  • 16th Century German Literature
  • 17th Century German Literature
  • 18th Century German Literature
  • German Literature and Film 1990-present
  • Dutch Language and Linguistics

We seek to provide an overview of the most important new scholarship. The task of the contributing editor is to write an annual survey of the most important new research in their specialist field , in which a selection of the best publications are briefly introduced and evaluated. Surveys are typically 4000-8000 words in length, depending on the field.

Contributing editors benefit from a guaranteed annual publication in a prestigious periodical which is valued, for example, by tenure committees. Individual surveys are listed in the MLA Bibliography. In addition, contributors regularly receive free review copies of books in their subject area, and, in some cases, also copies of relevant journals. The work of a contributing editor offers excellent opportunities to network within the field, and ensures they are up to date with the most recent publications in the whole breadth of their period or field. Sometimes two colleagues collaborate to write a section between them. We would also consider an excellent doctoral student if their supervisor supports their application.

The Year’s Work is a prestigious bibliographical journal which has appeared regularly since the 1930s and is currently published in Leiden by Brill. It is collaboratively edited under the direction of the General Editors, Graeme Dunphy and Paul Scott. The volume is divided into broad linguistic sections, each with a section editor. These sections are compiled by a team of contributing editors, each working on a given chronological range or thematic area. YWMLS appears annually in both paper and digital form, providing a survey of the scholarly work done during the preceding year in the fields of the linguistics and literature of French, Latin (Medieval and Neo-Latin), German, Dutch, the Scandinavian languages, the Celtic languages, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Modern Greek and the Slavonic languages. The journal also has a mission to help safeguard minority and endangered languages, reflected in coverage of Occitan and Yiddish and with plans to have a Native American languages and cultures section. Each survey is not just a listing of books and articles, but allows comment, explication, and critical judgment of the articles and books dealt with. The comment on each article and book is brief (much shorter than usual reviews), but is intended to give apposite guidance on what is covered in the book or article and the value of this, as well as how it relates to other recent work. The volumes are taken by university libraries all over the world, and are well used. The digital form is available through the JSTOR Current Scholarship Program and the Brill Books and Journals platform.

Applications or requests for an information sheet should be sent to the Germanic editor, Graeme Dunphy (Würzburg) at g@dunphy.de.