Denis Dutton, editor of Philosophy and Literature, has republished a Wall Street Journal piece about his annual Bad Writing Contest for academic prose.

The pretentiousness of the worst academic writing betrays it as a kind of intellectual kitsch, analogous to bad art that declares itself “profound” or “moving” not by displaying its own intrinsic value but by borrowing these values from elsewhere. Just as a cigar box is elevated by a Rembrandt painting, or a living room is dignified by sets of finely bound but unread books, so these kitsch theorists mimic the effects of rigor and profundity without actually doing serious intellectual work. Their jargon-laden prose always suggests but never delivers genuine insight.

He’s got some examples of contest entries, too, for your reading pleasure, ha ha ha.