r/AskLiteraryStudies

I'm looking into English PhD programs (U.S only) and trying to find one where my research would fit best, but I don't know where to start. I know that there are universities that are known as hubs for particular areas---for instance, I've heard Oregon is great for ecocriticism and that Tulsa, OK, is a (perhaps surprising) hub for Modernists---and it'd almost be silly not to apply there if it aligns with your research, but I haven't heard of any for mine. Any suggestions of programs to look into? Here are my interests:

Primary: 20th- and 21st-century Global Anglophone literature (in another life, maybe Romanticism)

Secondary: Ecocriticism, the body, women's literature, food studies, semiotics, film studies

MA Thesis: food as a language of female resistance in Virginia Woolf, Margaret Atwood, and Han Kang.

Should I read another version first before this cartoon translation?

Will this even give me the full story of Beowulf or is it a total perversion of the original text?

I will read it regardless now that I own it.

guys I am planning my dissertation on the theme of how mountains affect crime

I have a few texts that I have already started reading but the more the merrier

I would love to read as many perspectives as possible before proceeding:-- fiction or otherwise that you might have heard of related to it, crime novels set on mountains, any actual forensic/criminology theories, any relevant papers, your own experiences/anecdotes, anything at all!

all input is appreciated, thanks!!

Going into my final year of Masters in English Literature and still unsure of what my dissertation should be about. I will also be pursuing PhD after this, so it is even more imminent that I decide something soon.

While there are broader areas that I can identify- gothic literature, dream work, crime fiction ---

1. I am not sure how to narrow down from here

2. How to tie these together

3. I came up with statements like- gothic architecture in literature facilitates crime, or the portrait in Dorian Gray as an abject- but I feel like these have been overdone

4. Now these ideas are stuck in my head and I can't shake them off and start anew

5. Struggling to come up with something 'new' and 'original'

I know I should go through my university syllabus to see what interests me, read the literature of the related topics and look at the limitations to figure out the research gap -- it's just not happening.

My university syllabus is horribly lacking and since I can't really decide on one theme of interest, I can't read the literature. I keep trying to combine them all.

I've asked a similar question here before and was directed to contact my supervisor but that is not really an option. That professor shows up once in a month because he's busy with his other profession or whatever. Basically, he does not care but would be deeply offended if I contacted some other professor. Either way, that is not a choice rn.

I tried going through online videos and while they claim to solve all your doubts, most just beat around the bush. I would be really grateful if someone could point me towards a better resource or walk me through their own process :( it's stressing me out now

Everyone always enjoys the scene in a movie or book where the detective reveals how the crime was cleverly carried out, but surely that doesn’t happen in real life (does it?) So where did the trope originate? A book? Is it just that audiences enjoy it so much and there has to be a resolution to a story?

hi everybody- i'm looking for books that guide or teach me how to do literary analysis and see the deeper meaning within books.

i'm looking for something that teaches:

• how to identify symbols, motifs, and themes
• how to support an interpretation with textual evidence
• how to distinguish between a reasonable interpretation and overanalyzing/stretch.
• how to think more deeply about literature in general

like specificially, i struggle with how people arrive at interpretations like "the airplane symbolizes freedom" or "the rain represents rebirth." i want books that actually explain the reasoning process behind those interpretations. and then i can apply those techniques with the books that are on my school's curriculum next yr. an example book i have to interpret next year is mary shelley's frankenstein which ik is rlly dense..

Not sure if this is the right sub for this, so please point me in the right direction if it’s not. I am reading Girl, Interrupted, and I came across the phrase “basement-colored person”. I try to find the meanings and definitions of words/phrases I don’t recognize so that I can learn and expand my vocabulary/understanding, but I haven’t been able to find anything online that recognizes this phrase.

The line for context:

“You’re living at One fifteen Mill Street?” asked a small, basement-colored person who ran a sewing-notions shop in Harvard Square, where I was trying to get a job.

I can't really attend any classes because I don't have the money but I can download textbooks from like, Anna's archive. But I don't know what to download!

It's frustrating because everyone knows like, 1000 specific poets and expects you to know them as well, but I don't, and i don't know how to find what everyone just somehow seems to know through osmosis (I'm sure it isn't the case, I just struggle with finding things) I really love Carl Phillips, for example, but how on earth do I find more poets who write like that or even what particular styles are, like another poet I like is Steven Duong, and I also like Li Young Lee, but these are poets I found with a lot of effort and luck and searching whereas other people seem to be really good at finding things they love, whereas sifting through information and finding poets and knowledge about poetry is impossible for me!!

I want to learn SPECIFICS. I want to know everything you actually learn about poetry in high level classes, like yes things like meter and form, but also histories and poetic traditions and all the poems that are in conversation with each other and poetic theory (like Kristeva) and all that theory being applied, like where do I learn THAT? How do people know how to do things in poetry like particular almost nonsensical word associations that still somehow mean something, how can they put punctuation someplace or alter a sentence so that it's meaning can't exactly be deciphered or even defended, and yet it still works, and how do you find meaning from something so obfuscated? How to engineer and reverse engineer poetry, genuinely, and I understand the whole Barthes interpretation as changeable thing, but surely there are embedded conversations and knowledge in poetry, that allow some things to be understood and some plays to be made for particular reasons?

I'm just so tired and exhausted at how much I suck at learning about something I care about so much. I try so hard, I read as much as I can, but I know I fall so short all the time. I think part of it is I depend on extroversion and other people for knowledge but I'm chronically ill and bedbound so not being integrated in society makes learning so much harder. I want to genuinely learn. I want to edit my own poems but it's so lonely if I don't know who I'm in conversation with, or how to be, I don't know who to read or how everyone knows all the queer poets or all the poetic schools or all the new and old and well known authors, I don't know but I'm trying so hard and every day I fail and it's so frustrating. I need help. How do I learn? How do I find poets, where do you guys find poets? I look here and Instagram and at lists online and in articles and interviews with other poets and still end up lost. I just want to learn and it feels like I'm some kind of magnet repelling learning, nothing seems to come to me 😭😭😭😭 i just want to understand the thing i care about. If anyone has any tips

A friend of mine who is practicing medicine once asked me what do I do for research. how it is relevant to the society, what it is giving back to the society? As a scholar who have started my research, I am reading, studying a lot of literary texts, about them. Through the process, I have developed empathy, I learnt to apply critical perspectives in daily life (which also made me look at everything with a tinge of skepticism and cynicism- since my ideal is not met). But what am I giving back to the society? That person didn't snide at me but was curios to know what I do. but myself I was not clear and could not give him a proper answer. My research is pretty much interdisciplinary as it combines sociology, psychology, history and now even spatial theory. I am learning a little bit about all these field that relevant to my work, but what am I producing back? to whom am I producing back? A research paper is only read by very few scholars whose main intention is not interest but read that paper for the sake of citations and substantiation. I know humanities research is important and interesting to me and few others in this field, but how are we going to transcend this gap between science and humanities? between utilitarian induction and interpretation? or am I just comparing apple and orange with a wrong metrics?

Hi everyone,

I recently started the first year of my PhD in English Literature, and I've realized that although I enjoy reading and research, I want to improve my academic writing as early as possible instead of learning everything through trial and error.

I'm looking for an online course that focuses on research writing in the humanities, particularly literature. My main goal is to become a better academic writer for my thesis, journal articles, conference papers, and future publications.

I'm hoping to find a course that offers:

• High-quality instruction, preferably by professors from reputed foreign universities

• Constructive, detailed feedback on my writing throughout the course

• Opportunities to revise assignments based on feedback

• A certificate upon completion

• A reasonable fee (ideally free or under ₹5,000)

I've come across Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn, but many of the courses seem either too general or focused on scientific writing, and most don't seem to provide consistent feedback on writing.

Has anyone here taken a course that genuinely improved their academic writing in literature or the humanities? If so, would you recommend it?

Also, as a first-year PhD student, do you think enrolling in a structured academic writing course is a worthwhile investment, or is it better to rely on reading journal articles and learning through writing with my supervisor's feedback?

I'd really appreciate recommendations based on your experience. Thanks in advance!

Some time ago, my Literature teacher told me Machado is famous around the world and people in universities study him like like they study Shakespeare. Was he saying the truth?

I’m reading to kill a mockingbird, and I’m on the start of Chapter 6. I can’t seem to understand what’s going on in the first few pages and wanted to ask for help in figuring out what’s going on. Could someone help here?

1. Is it supposedly hot this night? Why would Jem mention the moon making it hotter?

Is this some kind of normal southern slang?

1. What does “Cross in it tonight” mean? I am thinking a lady in the Moon means some lady illuminated by the moonlight, but where exactly is this cross coming from?

2. ⁠Scout starts talking about some performance made by Mr Avery, and then all she ends up talking about is some kind of 10 foot water spout, and then the story moves on the dare to go to Radley’s place. I just feel like I’m missing a page of content here, unless what she’s saying is Mr Avery spat some water out? That part wasn’t clear to me.

If anyone is able to discuss these with me, would be appreciated.

My background:

BA in English Language and Literature graduated as top 3

Took pedagogical formation courses (teacher training)

Studied Ancient Greek as a minor throughout my degree

Most of my seminars, papers, and independent work have leaned comparative and cross-cultural analysis, feminist critism, mythological retellings etc

I genuinely love English literature, but my actual research instincts keep pulling me toward comparative frameworks

Trying to decide between the two. What would you consider the biggest advantages and drawbacks of each? Would love to hear from people who've actually been through either program.

I'm from Europe, Slovenia, and in our highschools the Language class in divided into grammar part and literature part. In the 'literature part' we go through every time period from ancient greek/roman literature to modern literature and briefly go through the most important authors, their works and their impact (and we do the same with our countries progress throught the years).

To give some examples; we go through Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Zola, Shakespeare, Proust, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Kafka, Joyce, ... In total we would go through cca 50 european authors.

What's the case in America? I read that there is no national curriculum and that books are chosen by the school/professors but are chosen books meant to be read from beginning till end? Seeing people only list books by american or english authors im wondering do schools not teach the entire history of literature and specifics of each period?

This might be a dumb questions because i am aware that europe=teaching european history of literature and america=teaching american history of literature yet sometimes i am taken aback by people not being thought about Dostoevsky, Dante, Proust and such as I see them and many others as truly pivotal to literary revolution.

(sorry if this is not the right subreddit, in #AskAnAmerican there's a word limit and in #literature you need enough karma points to post and my post just got deleted from #books...)

I am currently doing my dissertation and received feedback from my advisor telling me that my introduction was descriptive rather than analytical.

What I presented was: thesis statement, summary, theoretical framework, justification for my dissertation, summary of chapters to continue.

What I was told that I needed to expand upon my topic to make the introduction have a similar word count to my first chapter, and to set up the argument within the introduction rather than deferring it to following chapters. I was asked to rework my introduction entirely.

I have read other dissertation introductions, but I am not sure I completely understand what I am doing wrong. I read a book on writing I was recommended, but it included very little in terms of how to structure an introduction this way. Any tips?

Hi there! I am an MA student (English studies) who, recently finishing an exam session and beginning the long-awaited holiday vacations, decided to look out for some interesting readings for the summer.

I was thinking about applying for PhD program next year, and althought I am still not sure as to the exact project of mine, I have some ideas.

I have a growing interest in theory of knowledge/epistemology in context of literary studies and decided to pursue this further, to see if there's anything interesting and worthwhile to be done.

With that being said, I am a little bit clueless as to possible readings I could read to somehow guide my topic research.

So far I found somet interesting sources while digging in library:
- Eco's Six Walks in the Fictional Woods,
- his The Limits of Interpretation,
- some collection of his essays on interpretation and/or hermeneutics (Eco)
- a book Ontology of Fiction (not Eco).
- and a book called Fight for Substance: Study in Literary Theory of Knowledge

The last one is a Polish text of literary criticism, not sure if it's ever been translated te English hence the translated title.

If anyone would have any ideas, recommendations, tips (or questions!) as to my initial research, I would be much obliged :))

Hi everyone,

I'm about to start my MA in English Literature, and I want to build a strong foundation in Literary Criticism and Cultural Studies right from the beginning.

I'm looking for books that explain the concepts clearly, introduce the major theories and theorists, and gradually move from beginner-friendly to more advanced. My goal is to understand the ideas deeply, not just study them for exams.

I'd love recommendations for:

Literary Criticism and Literary Theory

Cultural Studies

Books that explain major schools of thought (Marxism, Feminism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Postcolonialism, Queer Theory, etc.)

Must-read books that every MA English Literature student should read

If you're an MA student, researcher, or professor, which books do you think are absolutely worth reading? I'd also appreciate any reading order or advice for someone just starting their MA.

Thanks in advance! I'm looking forward to hearing your recommendations.

Any advice in general, any books on theory I should read, anything I should know before starting?

For context, I'm going to study in Spain (I'm Spanish), and I chose it because I'm good at English, and interested in learning languages (and about them), and I like literature and reading, and even though I wouldn't say I've read many English classics (Shakespeare, Joyce come to mind) I do like reading in general.

For reference, the last books I've read are The Stranger by Camus and There is No Antimemetics Division by Sam Hughes, and right now I'm reading Catch-22.

All nind of advice in general appreciated.

Hi all! I'm a rising senior in my undergrad, majoring in English. I love studying literature (particularly Renaissance/Early Modern literature), and I am considering applying to graduate school for it. I am unsure if I want to dive fully into a PhD program, so I have been considering applying for (fully-funded!!!) MA programs.

I have heard that MA programs can make you more competitive for PhD applications. Does the relative "prestige" of the school matter, or the degree and what I do with it (research, publications, etc.)? Essentially, should I worry too much about the ranking/prestige of the school I would attend? Also, are there any circumstances, or any schools for which having an MA might disadvantage me?

Thanks all!

ETA: I am an undergrad at a US institution, and looking at other US institutions for grad school.