THE CEA FORUM - Summer/Fall 2010 - Confessions of a Tenured Professor - Relax, Don’t Be So Banal

Oct 15, 2026

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“The CEA Forum” Summer/Fall 2010 includes “Confessions of a Tenured Professor,” an essay by Colin Irvine that reflects on Hemingway’s “Banal Story” and the irony behind its title. The piece contrasts everyday isolation and writing with the allure of adventure, then turns to the author’s personal habits: chasing calls for papers in unusual locations, living for panels, and afterwards working relentlessly through grading, emails, and revisions. It frames academic life as both obsessive and strangely exhilarating.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time15 min

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THE CEA FORUM

Summer/Fall 2010

Confessions of a Tenured Professor

Relax, Don’t Be So Banal

Hemingway’s “Banal Story” and the irony of adventure

Calls for papers and the cycle of travel, deadlines, and revision

Tenure, obsessive work habits, and personal anecdotes

THE CEA FORUM Summer/Fall 2010 Confessions of a Tenured Professor Relax, Don’t Be So Banal* COLIN IRVINE Augsburg College At the outset of Hemingway’s “Banal Story,”we meet the protagonist—H’s double, no doubt—sitting alone in some remote cabin somewhere in Michigan dividing his time between thinking about writing and wondering about the wondrous adventures—the equivalent of today’s XGames—others elsewhere in the world are enjoying. This situation involving the passive, pensive man and the unnamed adventure-seekers suggests on the surface a contrast of sorts, one that juxtaposes living life in the moment with merely writing about doing so. But, of course, when entering into one of Hemingway’s stories—regardless of the premise—one cannot help but suspect that the writer (as opposed to his purportedly lackluster hero) is up to something edgy and adventurous—after all, he is Hemingway. And, as it turns out, this is the case: Ernest, true to form for this larger-than-life thrill-seeker/Modern(ist) Bear Grylls who could have starred in a 1970s aftershave commercial and who continues to make all those literature professors who attempt to teach his works look in comparison a little like Francis Macomber, was exploring in this story the relationship between having adventures and creating texts that, when read, resemble them. Accordingly, careful yet daring readers of “Banal Story” THE CEA FORUM Summer/Fall 2010 soon realize that the title to this ostensibly simple story is ironic, misleading even. What on the surface seems prosaic—spending time in isolation thinking and writing about other places and other more outwardly exciting exploits—proves when one goes spelunking into the recesses of the narrative to be extraordinarily challenging, even more than running with the bulls or staring down the gun barrel at a charging rhino. At least this is the interpretation that I apply like salve to my addled brain when I am in interesting places doing less-than-exotic work, like grading papers, prepping for class, or writing rough drafts of essays I will likely never have the courage to submit for publication (quick confession: coming originally from Boise, Idaho, and now residing in Northfield, Minnesota, I have a low threshold for what constitutes “exotic”—Chunky Monkey ice cream, Canada, seafood with the shell still on, The Travel Channel, drinks on fire, money with holes in it, and children speaking foreign languages—are examples of things, people, and places that strike me as out of the ordinary) . And speaking of exotic places, I have in the last couple of years developed the habit of watching calls for papers for conferences in out-of-the-ordinary locales such as Tallahassee or Denver or Iowa City and thinking rashly when I see one that looks intriguing, That’s it! I am doing it; I’m sending in an abstract, writing that paper, and living large for a long weekend right during the middle of the semester. Heck (yes, I actually think “heck”—see above about where Iam from), I might even cancel classes for a day and go to the entire conference (of course canceling classes means convincing the students to meet one-on-one with me in conferences, so THE CEA FORUM Summer/Fall 2010 as to assuage my guilt) . Then, six or seven months later, when I get to the conference, I spend all of my spare time right up to the minute my panel presents revising my paper (and when I am not checking for punctuation problems in a paper that only my eyes will ever see, I labor over the conference schedule, mapping out the two or three-day “get-away” while struggling with the thought of maybe, possibly skipping a session or part of one and going for a jog or possibly visiting a museum or a beach—or, in Iowa City, a book store) . But then, after I’ve presented and attended the requisite number of sessions to justify the college’s investment, I go crazy. I party like an undergrad on the last day of finals. Or, actually, honestly, I don’t.

FAQs

What is the essay’s main connection to Hemingway’s “Banal Story”?

The author uses “Banal Story” as a starting point to discuss irony: a seemingly routine setup becomes unexpectedly challenging once one enters the narrative’s depths.

How does the author describe their approach to conferences after submitting papers?

After arriving, the author spends spare time revising right up to the panel, managing schedules, and then later returns to grading and further writing rather than fully relaxing.

What does the author say about how tenure changes (or doesn’t change) their work habits?

Tenure does not stop the author from working; they describe persistent, almost obsessive thinking that continues through writing, collecting anecdotes, and documenting daily life.

Oct 15, 2026

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