Masters in French Studies or Comp Lit?

[DeNovo]

Hi all - I have a question about which direction I should go for a masters program. I am transitioning from a career in law and would like to get a PhD in French literature and culture. I'm going to start with a masters program so that I can demonstrate research proficiency in the field, provide relevant work samples for PhD applications, and show that I am serious about the transition. My question is whether it would be helpful or harmful to do the masters in Comparative Literature, rather than in French studies or French lit. The Comp Lit program requires a dissertation at the end, and my proposal would compare two French texts from the 17th century. To the extent my PhD program might be more interdisciplinary, rather than strictly French lit, would having a masters in Comp Lit pose any problems? 

Any thoughts would be appreciated! 

Thanks! 

[palabra45]

I'm speaking from a European perspective, thus I'm not sure what I'm going to say is valid for US schools as well. I personally feel there is an underlying hypocrisy in the academia because, on the one hand, they promote interdisciplinarity etc., but on the other, one with a Comp Lit degree doesn't really belong to any department. This is even more so when it comes to the PhD dissertation. For instance, when I brought up the argument with a professor, they first told me the story of how Comp Lit departments in the 80s were just pretexts to do theory and they weren't really interested in any literature, and then they went on saying that, in the context of electing a new person, if they could choose between X Lit or Comp Lit, they'd go for the former.

My advice would be to obtain a Master's in French lit. Most of the departments are interdisciplinary anyway, and you can still demonstrate that you can work with different materials in your seminar papers. I wrote a Master's thesis in Comp Lit, though it counts as English, but I wouldn't dare to try Comp Lit for the PhD, I don't recommend it.

[Glasperlenspieler]

From an American perspective, I don't think it really matters. If you're applying to a PhD in French, they'll care that you have the requisite language abilities and research interests/capabilities to do well in such a program. Whether you develop those in a French MA or a Comp Lit MA shouldn't really make a difference (that is, the comp lit won't count in you favor, but wouldn't count against you either).

That being said, I'm a little confused why you're looking at Comp Lit programs. Your proposed research project sound like it fits squarely in Francophone studies and doesn't seem to be comparative (i.e. utilizing texts from multiple national literatures). Also, national literature departments are increasingly interdisciplinary these days, so just because you attend a French program, doesn't mean that you won't be able to pursue interdisciplinary research. 

[Carly Rae Jepsen]

Do you have any previous French Lit experience prior to the Comp Lit MA? Some programs are strict about that and prefer people who have either a BA or MA in French. If you're comparing 2 texts in French I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do that in a French program as opposed to a Comp Lit one.

On the other hand, for most schools as long as you show you have all the qualifications and provide them with good writing samples and recommendations, you would be a strong candidate.

[DeNovo]

Great! Thanks all for the quick and helpful responses

@Glasperlenspieler In terms of 'why' Comp Lit, it was just a consideration to broaden the number of potential programs. I obviously failed to actually explain what the comparative aspect would be in my initial blurb. My preferred research would not be comparative (i.e., only the two French texts), but I know how I would evolve it if I were to do a Comp Lit program (it would be the French texts against similar Spanish texts from the period). Thanks though for the crux of what I was looking for as to whether a Comp Lit degree would help/hurt/have little impact on a PhD in francophone studies! 

@Carly Rae Jepsen Thanks for the feedback! I do have a BA in French from IU Bloomington, so I think that will help me, coupled with the masters program, moving forward. Thanks for your input! Much appreciated and best of luck at WashU!