The OED and a Reconstruction of its Construction

A historical account of the Oxford English Dictionary's compilation, The Professor and the Madman, was published in 1998. Written by Simon Winchester and subtitled A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, The Professor and the Madman, bridges multiple genres being at once fiction, history, and biography. These multiple genres force the question how can a text be both fiction and history? Furthermore, its position amongst works of history baits questions not only the novels historical accuracy, but also the agenda Winchester propagates in applying a narrative to history. In The Theory Toolbox, Nealon and Searls Giroux offer a means to understand The Professor and the Madman's narrative suggesting, "It's the over-arching plot, the 'master narrative,' the bigger context, that gives meaning to the otherwise random events of history"(98). More so, in writing history, 'important' events are chosen according to certain criteria; and those events are explained in terms of certain paradigms that promote particular visions of the past, present, and future"(97). So in addressing The Professor and the Madman, we can recognize the narrative choices Winchester makes in his representation of the OED's creation. These choices actively promote a specific meaning for the historical events. He turns the tedious seventy-year compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary into a tale of madness and genius, suggesting the history of lexicography can both instruct and delight.