Is my research interest too general and vague?

[alexisqaz]

Hi, everyone! I am from a non-English speaking country and currently planning to apply for the MA program. However, I haven't seriously considered my research interest until several months ago. I am recently working on my writing sample which mainly tries to analyse Blood Meridian with the theory of text interference. I gradually grow the interest in unnatural narrative theory, the problem of metalepsis across media, and Baxtin's dialogism. However, from what I have seen on the websites of the programs in Canada and US, I think the approaches in literary studies are more "historical" and "political" (I do not know if I am being articulated enough, I mean they are mainly confined to a specific historical phase or about queer/feminist/minority theoretical approach). Moreover, in my writing process, most of the books I think interesting and cite are written by German scholars. So maybe German is a better place for me to pursue my study? Or am I just take the whole thing in a wrong way because of my ignorance? I plan to have a MA degree in US or Canada first, and is there any recommendation or just some advice for my confusion?

[beardedlady]

Hi  @alexisqaz! Fellow citizen of a non-English speaking country here. I empathize with the feeling of "ignorance" and "confusion" of applying from outside the North-American system.

Generally, English depts. are organized, like you said, into period, geography, or theory (rather than "politics," but your wording raises some interesting questions and issues). It seems that you're current research is very theory heavy, but I'm only somewhat familiar with the terms you bring up and with Bakhtin. I think that what you should try to do is formulate a research question that interests you, drawing from your current paper. From what you've written, you could stake your interests broadly in 20th century American Lit, Postmodernism, and literary theory? Perhaps you should try to figure out what stream of theory you're drawing on most. Structuralism? It could be most helpful to talk with some faculty members that will help you categorize where your interests lie. In fact, this is probably the most important thing that I think you should do--speak to people in your department about your plans, ask questions, raise your concerns.

In any case, from here try to narrow down what questions your future research might tackle as an M.A. student. I think that especially for the M.A. level, adcoms expect that you knowledge will be limited, but still you should try frame your interests within existing scholarship. It should probably be more general than the specific analysis you pose in your paper on Blood Meridian--something that considers, for instance, other texts that are in dialogue with this text either thematically, temporally, or geographically.

If you speak Russian/German or any other languages pertinent to the theory you are most drawn to, it could also be productive to look at Comparative Lit programs (I don't know which programs offer terminal M.A's, though and am not very familiar with their requirements).

Good Luck!

 

[CulturalCriminal]

I can’t imagine that you’ll be too out of place with what you describe as a sample. It might be good to zero in on programs that are theory based or have faculty interested in your methodologies.

That said, most programs are going to make you have specific period or cultural categorized courses for the majority of your studies. For example, I had to take the following in addition to electives of my choosing: a medieval, a Brit early modern, three post early modern (one Brit, one American, one open), and a crit theory survey course. I’ve heard of other MAs being more structured and other MAs being less structured. This is to say, that chances are any MA program in the states will likely only give 2-5 courses you can freely choose beyond the MA thesis or exams.

BTW, where I got my MA (Texas State U) has McCarthy’s papers and there are a few McCarthy scholars here, in addition to us having a Center for the Study of the Southwest.

Edited September 23, 2018 by CulturalCriminal

[alexisqaz]

21 hours ago, lit-TARDIS said:

Hi  @alexisqaz! Fellow citizen of a non-English speaking country here. I empathize with the feeling of "ignorance" and "confusion" of applying from outside the North-American system.

Generally, English depts. are organized, like you said, into period, geography, or theory (rather than "politics," but your wording raises some interesting questions and issues). It seems that you're current research is very theory heavy, but I'm only somewhat familiar with the terms you bring up and with Bakhtin. I think that what you should try to do is formulate a research question that interests you, drawing from your current paper. From what you've written, you could stake your interests broadly in 20th century American Lit, Postmodernism, and literary theory? Perhaps you should try to figure out what stream of theory you're drawing on most. Structuralism? It could be most helpful to talk with some faculty members that will help you categorize where your interests lie. In fact, this is probably the most important thing that I think you should do--speak to people in your department about your plans, ask questions, raise your concerns.

In any case, from here try to narrow down what questions your future research might tackle as an M.A. student. I think that especially for the M.A. level, adcoms expect that you knowledge will be limited, but still you should try frame your interests within existing scholarship. It should probably be more general than the specific analysis you pose in your paper on Blood Meridian--something that considers, for instance, other texts that are in dialogue with this text either thematically, temporally, or geographically.

If you speak Russian/German or any other languages pertinent to the theory you are most drawn to, it could also be productive to look at Comparative Lit programs (I don't know which programs offer terminal M.A's, though and am not very familiar with their requirements).

Good Luck!

 

Thanks a lot! "Try frame your interests within existing scholarship" is very enlightening and provides me another angle to view this whole issue. However, I am really confused about the relation between "theoretical" and "thematically, temporally, or geographically". Is it for the purpose of fulfilling the academic tradition (to contextualize everything first, I guess) in North America? Or is it the necessary step of practicing towards the theoretical construction?

[alexisqaz]

21 hours ago, CulturalCriminal said:

I can’t imagine that you’ll be too out of place with what you describe as a sample. It might be good to zero in on programs that are theory based or have faculty interested in your methodologies.

That said, most programs are going to make you have specific period or cultural categorized courses for the majority of your studies. For example, I had to take the following in addition to electives of my choosing: a medieval, a Brit early modern, three post early modern (one Brit, one American, one open), and a crit theory survey course. I’ve heard of other MAs being more structured and other MAs being less structured. This is to say, that chances are any MA program in the states will likely only give 2-5 courses you can freely choose beyond the MA thesis or exams.

BTW, where I got my MA (Texas State U) has McCarthy’s papers and there are a few McCarthy scholars here, in addition to us having a Center for the Study of the Southwest.

Thank you! Theory-based program is exactly what I was looking for! But how to know a program is theory based? (I do know some very famous PhD programs are heavy on theory. But the MA?) Is it by checking the past courses or the publication of the faculty? (Sorry for this question sounding naive) And I have heard the MA program in SUNY Buffalo is extremely flexible and one can choose any courses across different departments. Is a program like this will be more suitable?

[beardedlady]

4 hours ago, alexisqaz said:

However, I am really confused about the relation between "theoretical" and "thematically, temporally, or geographically". Is it for the purpose of fulfilling the academic tradition (to contextualize everything first, I guess) in North America? Or is it the necessary step of practicing towards the theoretical construction?

What I was trying to get at, and perhaps wasn't clear enough, is that you should  identify for yourself what areas of lit. your'e interested in, beyond the specific essay you are currently writing. Such areas could be a mix of theory/genre/geography/time-period. My research interests are also theory based (queer/feminism/disability) but I can also say that I want to focus on 20th/21st century women's writing, both American and British. This is obviously still very broad, but much more refined than if I just said that queer theory interests me, and more informative than saying that I'm interested in a specific text or a specific theorist.

I *think* this would be pertinent in two ways: 1) it'll help you situate your interests in current discussions and help you consider what the context of potential research could be. That is, if you had to write an M.A. thesis or other substantial research project right now, what would it be (other than what you're currently working on)? What types of texts, time-periods, or theories would you find interesting? And how would you tie them together? 2) You're going to want to find programs that suit your broad interests, I assume, and such categorizations will help you do so.

More generally, I think that without coming to a fuller and clearer understanding of what it is that interests you in literature, it'll be much harder to "sell" yourself to programs. The hard part is that a lot of the times we don't even know what the potential categories that interest us are. It was only very late in my B.A., for instance, that I discovered queer theory, which is now one of my main interests. This is why it would probably be helpful to talk with professors who could point you in appropriate directions and suggest reading materials for you to peruse.

But I really should mention that I have zero experience in applying to M.A. programs in the States, and have no idea what they expect from their applicants. I am currently completing an M.A. in my home country and applying to PhD programs in the U.S. I believe that my advice to you here would be applicable in any case, but people with more experience with the process will probably be able to give you better ideas/suggestions.

[alexisqaz]

@lit-TARDIS I see.Thank you so much for your useful advice! You solved the confusion over my head for months! And good luck on your application!