r/AskLiteraryStudies

So I've been learning more about Barthes' "Death of the Author," and the main point is that the reader is the one who creates meaning, not the author. Most of us are familiar with the social media app TikTok, and a lot of the time I see people constantly interpret books, songs, and movies through the creator’s personal life, which feels like the author is now always in the conversation....So that leaves me to wonder, does TikTok make us focus on the author more than we should, or is it creating a new kind of reader interpretation?

I’m in a digital literary studies course and we are learning about the theory of “the death of the author” and I am wondering how that theory can even work in the digital age of social media.

I feel like with social media, artists and their personas become one. Would you consider the artist’s persona a part of the text and therefore not dead?

Hi

I have to write a reflection essay on a book teaching how to read literature like a professor for my AP Lit class. I started writing the intro but I'm having trouble with the thesis. I usually am good at theses but I don't think I've written this type of paper before.

Should the thesis be about how the book changed me, or a couple of things I learned from the book that I will later write a body paragraph on each?

Usually, I say something like: "This is not true because of X, Y, and Z."
Then a paragraph about X, Y, and Z, and a conclusion.

Any tips?

Hello All,

I have written an adaptation that is truly an adaptation; it's faithful to the story and spirit of the book, but I've focused on the community of women and the way they reflect and project Jane's feelings. I'm including my statement of purpose at the end of my questions in case you want to see more specifically what I'm talking about. I have a couple of questions that you, as lovers of the book, might answer.

So without further adieu:

1. One of my biggest hurdles is the Moor House section with St. John. It is such an essential obstacle for Jane to finally leave. I'm far more interested in linking her behavior to her character rather than contextualizing the reason for her staying in the time period and the few choices women had. She knows that she's extreme, either seeking approval or going for rebellion, so her needing for St. John's approval is understandable. It's just that he's so dislikable! Does anyone have thoughts on that?

2. I've set up the play in a way that makes it clear that Rochester wishes he knew how Jane feels about him and that his dressing as the gypsy is about infiltrating the community of women. The book makes it fairly clear that Jane doesn't know Rochester is the gypsy until fairly late in their conversation. What do you think it would do if we thought that Jane knows early on? Also, what do you make of the gypsy scene.

Thank you so much. I'm working on finding resources on some initial workshopping of the play, which will definitely be a developing process.

Jenny

Here is my statement of purpose:

My adaptation of Jane Eyre focuses on Jane’s central relationships with Bertha and the other women who populate the worlds Jane moves in. The community of  women project her anger, sense of injustice, and desire for selfhood while also playing foils to those feelings. While Jane rages at Aunt Reed, the girls of Lowood School destroy their classroom and Bertha shreds her guitar alone in her prison attic, all expressing fury with their individual lives.  Using bold movement and dance, humor and occasional commentary from Charlotte Bronte, this adaptation invites an audience to see Jane both as exceptional and themselves

i'd like to learn more about narratology but through a post-structuralist lens. part of the reason why is because im interested in studying kathy acker's work in a little more detail, and get more context on work like hers (some level of adjacent in like rushdie, calvino, chris kraus).

I have the complete works of Shakespeare in a Barnes & Noble edition. As you could imagine, I find it difficult to read because I’m unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s Early Modern English.

I know there are modernized editions, but I specifically want to learn to understand Shakespeare’s original language rather than read a modern-English translation. Ideally, I’d like an edition with extensive footnotes explaining unfamiliar vocabulary, phrases, idioms, references, and context.

I realize this may be ambitious for a beginner, but I’d like to learn how to read Shakespeare without assistance eventually. I’m happy to start with a single play and work from there if that’s the better approach.

I’ve looked at Arden, Folger, Cambridge, Norton, etc., but I’m finding conflicting opinions about which editions are best for this purpose.

What edition would you recommend for someone whose goal is to learn to read and understand Shakespeare’s Early Modern English, rather than have it translated into modern English?

I’d especially appreciate recommendations for a specific edition of Hamlet to start with. I’d rather spend more on one good annotated edition than buy something that doesn’t really help me develop the ability to read Shakespeare independently.

I hold a PhD in Literature (focusing on the novel and postcolonial studies) and I've really been missing the collaborative momentum and motivation of grad school.

I’m looking for fellow scholars to form a mutually beneficial partnership to navigate the "publish or perish" cycle. By integrating our insights into each other’s ongoing drafts, we can share co-authorship credits and naturally expand both of our publication pipelines.

If you’re interested in teaming up to mutually elevate our research output and support each other's portfolios, please send me a DM!

Hello! I am an upcoming senior in undergrad who plans on pursuing a masters/PhD after I graduate. I am working on an undergraduate thesis right now about the New York School of poetry and New York proto-punk music, and I would say that I certainly would like to continue researching avant garde literary music and counter culture in my graduate studies. I have tried my best to look at the research professors are doing on various universities websites, but have overall been struggling to find schools that would be suited to my research interests. Just thought I would see if anyone has any information that could help me!

Hamlet, Oedipus, Macbeth, Achilles, King Lear, Gatsby, Raskolnikov, or someone else entirely?

I’m interested in what makes a character truly tragic rather than simply unfortunate. Is it their fatal flaw, their suffering, their choices, or the way their greatest strength ultimately contributes to their downfall? Which character’s tragedy has stayed with you the most, and what makes their story so powerful?

Hello! I’m currently writing my Master’s thesis on intersectional theories, their limitations, and possible ways of extending them.

I already have a good structure and have found quite a bit of literature, but I’m still looking for further interesting contributions. In particular, I’m looking for articles, books, or book chapters that critically engage with intersectional theory or discuss its limitations, especially from a postcolonial and/or anti-capitalist perspective.

If you have any literature recommendations, I’d really appreciate them! Older texts or lesser-known contributions are very welcome as well. <3

Hey there. I am currently working on a term paper about space and place in a certain novel, but I seem to be stuck in my work. I need work through some theory of place and space first in order to start with the paper , but I’m uncertain of what the best works in this field are: Is there any author that has a good work on both of these terms? The theoretical part of the paper should not be too long, I expect it to be around 1-2 pages in the end. Names I’ve read during my research were Lefebvre and Yi-Fu Tuan.

I would be grateful for any help, because I seriously am stuck at this point 🥲

Considering that the biographical method (which is often associated with him, if not credited to him) remains popular, why has Sainte-Beuve's reputation fallen so low in recent decades? I read that Proust's Against Sainte-Beuve was influential in this, but surely this was not the only work or thing that had part in this. Could anyone point out to a text (article, essay, anything) about this?

I have the primary ideas about most of the theories. Like can understand the gist of the arguments. But in general, I can't focus clearly or cannot exactly immerse in it like I do for fiction. And I think that's important since I am planning to apply for PhD in English. Another thing is when I am reading theory, I always feel okay these references I don't know, may be I shall read them first.Then I go back to read them and miss reading what I was actually planning to read. Anyone with tips of how to overcome these things? Can anyone please please help?

I'm an adult returning to higher education to finish my undergraduate degree. Assuming I am able to maintain a 3.8-4.0 GPA and maximize my remaining coursework, what do I need to prioritize with the intent of pursuing a PhD?

I am still working a full-time 9-5, as I must, and have two years remaining of my undergrad in English Literature; the first two were completed about eight years ago. Should I begin developing relationships with graduate staff at my target universities? Should I be searching anywhere, everywhere, high and low for interesting research opportunities, which are, admittedly, quite few in number, as I am an online student in addition to working full time, and attend a university out of state? I do not have a spare second to waste, as two years were lost to me when I was young and unprepared.

It is incredible how adulthood changes your perception of education, especially for those coming from families who do not prioritize it. My dedication to this is iron. It is also worth noting that the program I desire most has a very narrow approval window. I am getting older, and after delving into the working world, I now know with certainty what future I wish to pursue. The only problem remaining is how to secure that future.

Considering my circumstances, if you have any advice on what I should focus on to optimize my resume to its most admissible potential, I would be glad to receive it.

For anyone who is reasonably proficient and confident in reading Chaucer’s original language, can you recommend me any resources so I can learn his Middle English properly? it seems nigh unapproachable almost, even if I know I can eventually surmount it.

When you want to deepen your understanding of a text, where do you go? I know that academics will write books, essays, monographs, etc. analyzing books and providing interpretation and context. Where can I find a bibliography of these to read?

(Repost because the quote wasn't showing up earlier. Also to preface, I am aware that "good" is a highly subjective term. I am simply referring to works which I either personally find to be well-written, or are largely considered by others to be well-written.)

In Kurosawa's autobiography, there's a section of quotes about film-making, and this one in particular stood out to me.

>In order to write scripts you must first study the great novels and dramas of the world. You must consider why they are great. Where does the emotion come from that you feel as you read them? What degree of passion did the author have to have, what level of meticulousness did he have to command, in order to portray the characters and events as he did? You must read thoroughly, to the point where you can grasp these things.

This seems like quite a good way to improve your writing ability, but the problem with me is that, while I do consume a lot of art (not limited to writing) which is considered "challenging", my consumption of art is pretty surface level and vibes-based. I find it hard to articulate why exactly I find a particular work good/bad outside of using single adjectives like "gripping", "convoluted", or if I'm feeling fancy, "transcendental".

I picked up an Oxford Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction to see if that would give any pointers (although it's focused on the visual arts), but it was more about questions like "what is art?" and the sociological aspects of art rather than how to evaluate art.

Are there any good books which give advice on how to hone this ability? Or is it just a matter of consistently brute-forcing reflections on what I read and discussing them with others?

Bloom wrote a fair amount of nonsense, but he did seem to have the ability to lock in when it came to his favorite writers, one of whom was Shelley, whom he continually and insistently referred to as a "skeptic." Of what the poet was skeptical, we don't know, or at least I don't. Does anyone have a good way to understand this angle? I don't see a skeptic in Shelley, I see a swooning pindarist with a penchant for late-enlightenment idea-play, but I could be wrong.

I'm trying to become a better reader and I think knowing more literary devices would make me a better annotater and shorten my annotations into more direct words