What is a ripperologist?

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi Mike

Well said, Mike. Indeed, the goal of Ripperologists should be to always improve the knowledge in the field and to dispell old as well as new myths.

Best regards

Chris

[Bridewell]

Good Point

I think a Ripperologist is someone who reads and thinks about JtR over an extended period of time, bearing in mind that we all have other interests. Publications, in my view, are not part of the definition: unfortunately, many people have published on this subject who know very little about it. Chris is right that it was Wilson who coined the term, and we're stuck with it. And, if Stan Reid isn't a Ripperologist, then none of us is.

I think your observation about many people having published work on the subject without knowing a great deal about it is exactly right.. I think particularly of the recent furore over a Spanish writer who ascribed the crimes to Abberline. I would be aggrieved to be thought of as less worthy of the appellation.
As 'ology' derives from the Greek 'logos' (ie 'word') and is generally used, in English, to mean "study of", I would prefer to see the word used to describe someone who has made, or is making, a study of the subject and has a good basic working knowledge of the subject. I don't mind being ranked on Casebook; it's a bit of fun, but allocating the term "ripperologist" only to those who have had work published on the subject smacks of elitism which is best avoided in my view.

Consider the following two (theoretical!) individuals:

Joe Bloggs, who has re-hashed the subject, based on existing material and published a "new" book &

Pete Bloggins who has had no work published, but has, through personal research, unearthed genuinely new & valuable material.

Is the first worthy of the title "Ripperologist", but not the second?

[Bridewell]

On Second Thoughts

Perhaps the term "Ripperologist" should be restricted to those who don't use a Ripper thread to discuss the Fab Four - oops. That's me hoist with my own petard then!

[Tom_Wescott]

Joe Bloggs, who has re-hashed the subject, based on existing material and published a "new" book &

Pete Bloggins who has had no work published, but has, through personal research, unearthed genuinely new & valuable material.

Joe would certainly be a Ripperologist if he used the masses of available data to produce a new and viable perspective. If Pete just stumbled onto something significant, like a document in an old chest, then no, he's not a Ripperologist. But if he's a researcher who set out to study the case, discovered something new, and brought it to the public, then sure, he's a Ripperologist. Why wouldn't he be?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Phil Carter]

Hello all,

What is a Ripperologist?

The word I'd look for is passion in their interest for the subject. That enables people to develope into writers and researchers. Perhaps a natural step?

best wishes

Phil

[Tom_Wescott]

Hi Phil,

Yes, absolutely. I would say in most cases a person is compelled to offer to the literature on the Ripper because they're passionate about the case and feel they have something viable to add. You have your odd essay that makes you scratch your head and go 'what's the point?' but in the larger spectrum I think most of the essays published in the last number of years would have value to some or many. Naturally, this is why I've always read the journals and will continue to do so and encourage others to do so.
I see a number of people here and at the forums say there's nothing new or viable left to say or add to our knowledge outside of suspect research, but there's no truth in that at all. I don't understand such jaded cynicism. I especially don't understand why these people stick around a field they see as dead and stilted.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[DVV]

A ripperlogist is somebody that studies the Ripper case, mainly using the methodology of two distinct sciences : history and criminology.

Some, by natural inclination or background, are more historians, some others are more criminologists.

Those gifted for both fields have a bright future ahead.

[mklhawley]

Hi Phil,

Yes, absolutely. I would say in most cases a person is compelled to offer to the literature on the Ripper because they're passionate about the case and feel they have something viable to add. You have your odd essay that makes you scratch your head and go 'what's the point?' but in the larger spectrum I think most of the essays published in the last number of years would have value to some or many. Naturally, this is why I've always read the journals and will continue to do so and encourage others to do so.
I see a number of people here and at the forums say there's nothing new or viable left to say or add to our knowledge outside of suspect research, but there's no truth in that at all. I don't understand such jaded cynicism. I especially don't understand why these people stick around a field they see as dead and stilted.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

So, does getting disciplined by the boss at work and getting yelled at by the wife at home because of 'working on the computer' fit in the category of being passionate?

[lynn cates]

new things

Hello Tom. Completely agree. There is MUCH new to discover. (Wish I weren't so bloody old.)

Cheers.
LC

[ChrisGeorge]

Perhaps the term "Ripperologist" should be restricted to those who don't use a Ripper thread to discuss the Fab Four - oops. That's me hoist with my own petard then!

We probably need a whole other thread to discuss, "What is a petard?" The origin of the word is interesting -- partly to do with medieval military technology, the other meaning relating to a basic bodily function. Read on.

Cecil Adams writes that it was a "small explosive device designed to blow open barricaded doors and gates, the petard was a favorite weapon in Elizabethan times." The word can be found in Shakespeare, Hamlet, act III, scene 4, lines 206 and 207: "For 'tis sport to have the engineer/ Hoist with his own petar [sic]." Adams adds, "The word 'petard' . . . comes from the Middle French peter, which derives in turn from the Latin peditum — the sense of which is 'to break wind.'"

Chris

[lynn cates]

give me a break

Hello Chris. Your post explains much.

For many years, some of us were waiting for a "break" in the Ripper case. How could we know that . . . ?

Hoist by our own petard! (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

[GregBaron]

No honey I'm not on there...

So, does getting disciplined by the boss at work and getting yelled at by the wife at home because of 'working on the computer' fit in the category of being passionate?

This is a good one mklhawley...

I imagine many of us have to hide our ripper addiction as if looking at porn. Sometimes quick minimizing is required. I also expect some of us have heard things like "Are you on that damn ripper site again?, what is wrong with you?"

I'm not here suggesting I speak from experience. Wink, wink...


Greg

[Tom_Wescott]

So, does getting disciplined by the boss at work and getting yelled at by the wife at home because of 'working on the computer' fit in the category of being passionate?

I don't think anybody could doubt your passion for the subject, Mike.

The word can be found in Shakespeare, Hamlet, act III, scene 4, lines 206 and 207: "For 'tis sport to have the engineer/ Hoist with his own petar [sic]."

This is awesome. I've never seen Shakespeare quoted with 'sic' in there to correct his spelling. I've read a bit about the authorship question (which predates Ripperology and has some amusing parallels) and laughed out loud when I read that Mark Twain, who believed Shakespeare was really Sir Francis Bacon, referred to them/him once as 'Shake and Bake'.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Bridewell]

I agree entirely. I don't think that the term "Ripperologist" is one which requires certain specific achievements. As someone mentioned in an earlier post, it's a subjective test, and everyone has their own interpretation as to who fits and who doesn't.
For myself, I've read about the killings intermittently over the years (since Donald Rumbelow's book, but have only conducted research of my own over the last 8 months. I am content for others to apply the term as they think fit. It's not a word I've ever used to describe myself. I just do what I do.

[ChrisGeorge]

The word can be found in Shakespeare, Hamlet, act III, scene 4, lines 206 and 207: "For 'tis sport to have the engineer/ Hoist with his own petar [sic]."

This is awesome. I've never seen Shakespeare quoted with 'sic' in there to correct his spelling.

Clear proof that the guy didn't write the stuff -- he couldn't spell.