Geek Studies

[ellenkushner]

(inspired by writingjen's comment yesterday: )

Robin Hood Studies . . . Arthurian Studies . . . Shakespeare . . . [your passion here - they do have academic courses in Anime now, don't they?] . . . .

Those of you who've taken the Academic Route, I'm curious: Is there a great difference between informally loving something and formally studying it?

For extra credit:
Why did Shakespeare have no interest in writing a Robin Hood play?

Comments

[calimac.livejournal.com]

I managed to find a way to take the Academic Route without formally studying literature at all. I just wrote papers on Tolkien, and people liked them, and I found myself anointed an expert.

The question I want to ask about Shakespeare is, why did he write a play based on Geoffrey of Monmouth? Considering the sources for his other plays, that wouldn't have seemed to be his thing.