The Footnote Manifesto
A few years back, the Canadian Journal of Political Science changed its reference format from MLS to APA (that is to say: from footnotes to in-text references)
I have a footnote fetish. I love the footnote. The footnote allows academic texts to flow on three major levels:
1) The text,
2) The subtext and futher explanation of minor subleteties and unnecessary but enjoyable detail.
3) The reference to deeper analysis or evidence that supports or otherwise connects to the text.
The footnote allows the reader to evaluate, or not, the three levels in one glance on the same page. This cannot be said of the end-note.
The aesthetics of the footnote:
The footnote is like a little lamp switch, easily within reach, that can be flicked on to illuminate a dusty corner. It is unobtrusive, sitting idly and casually at the top right-hand corner of a word or sentence. Unlike a reference in parenthesis (Payton: 1999, 27), it can go unnoticed by the uninitiated and leaves the text virtually unscathed by its unassuming presence. Those heavy parentheses that block the ebb and flow of the argument are presumptious impositions give too much information and not enough information at the same time. Too much, because the reader cannot make the choice to look up the reference or not. Too little, because unlike the footnote, it does not allow for elaboration and explanation in a subtext that is peripheral yet delightful to the curious mind.
The Cowardly Footnote: The Endnote
Endnotes force the reader to do a lot of page turning for nothing; they put a futile barrier between the reader and the reference. Endnotes are cowardly footnotes, hiding at the end of the text in hope that they will not be found out and explored by enterprising scholars. Instead of acting as a subtext, like the plywood under a nice glossy hardwood floor, the endnote acts as a sort of academic basement, where you throw all the unwanted text all jumbled together in no particular logical arrangement.
Footnotes of the world, unite! The time has come to wage a vicious counterattack on the invasion of lesser references. The blight of endnotes and parenthetical references is a stylistic, aesthetic and academic affront to our hallowed academic values.
Long live the footnote.1
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1. This post was inspired by a incurable bout of insomnia. In attempting to read myself to sleep, I couldn't help but be intensely annoyed by the appearance of the APA reference method in the Canadian Journal of Political Science. What to do? Begin the footnote renaissance with a loving blogpost for my dearest form of referencing.
I have a footnote fetish. I love the footnote. The footnote allows academic texts to flow on three major levels:
1) The text,
2) The subtext and futher explanation of minor subleteties and unnecessary but enjoyable detail.
3) The reference to deeper analysis or evidence that supports or otherwise connects to the text.
The footnote allows the reader to evaluate, or not, the three levels in one glance on the same page. This cannot be said of the end-note.
The aesthetics of the footnote:
The footnote is like a little lamp switch, easily within reach, that can be flicked on to illuminate a dusty corner. It is unobtrusive, sitting idly and casually at the top right-hand corner of a word or sentence. Unlike a reference in parenthesis (Payton: 1999, 27), it can go unnoticed by the uninitiated and leaves the text virtually unscathed by its unassuming presence. Those heavy parentheses that block the ebb and flow of the argument are presumptious impositions give too much information and not enough information at the same time. Too much, because the reader cannot make the choice to look up the reference or not. Too little, because unlike the footnote, it does not allow for elaboration and explanation in a subtext that is peripheral yet delightful to the curious mind.
The Cowardly Footnote: The Endnote
Endnotes force the reader to do a lot of page turning for nothing; they put a futile barrier between the reader and the reference. Endnotes are cowardly footnotes, hiding at the end of the text in hope that they will not be found out and explored by enterprising scholars. Instead of acting as a subtext, like the plywood under a nice glossy hardwood floor, the endnote acts as a sort of academic basement, where you throw all the unwanted text all jumbled together in no particular logical arrangement.
Footnotes of the world, unite! The time has come to wage a vicious counterattack on the invasion of lesser references. The blight of endnotes and parenthetical references is a stylistic, aesthetic and academic affront to our hallowed academic values.
Long live the footnote.1
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1. This post was inspired by a incurable bout of insomnia. In attempting to read myself to sleep, I couldn't help but be intensely annoyed by the appearance of the APA reference method in the Canadian Journal of Political Science. What to do? Begin the footnote renaissance with a loving blogpost for my dearest form of referencing.
posted by Lt Smash at 12:17 AM
2 Comments:
Grâce à ce post j'ai réalisé que j'étais une fan des footnotes et que je détestais les endnotes :)) Comme quoi on en apprend tous les jours sur nous-mêmes ;-)
Vive les foutnotes libres "bis" !!
Steve,
How dare you call me a geek? Last time I checked, I was a nerd.
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