Looking for French Lit. M.A. programs/niche areas of interest - advice or experiences?

[frthrow]

Hello, as there isn't an existing thread for French applicants for 2014 I thought I might as well ask here - basically, although I've started looking into French M.A. programs that fit my interests, I'm not having much luck...so, I was wondering if anyone currently enrolled in grad school or applying knew of programs/faculty that specialize in such areas as: 20th-century French theater/representations of violence in the theater (Artaud, the surrealists), surrealism in general as well as the absurd and the grotesque (e.g. the "Panic" movement in literature and the visual arts), and supernatural and Gothic fiction (though this is something that I've only studied in relation to my English degree, and have only read Potocki as far as French is concerned).

 

Apologies if this is too specific/should have been posted somewhere else - I almost feel as though I'm limiting my options too much for an M.A. program, but as I don't want to teach at a university level/work towards a PhD (at the moment, anyway), I really was hoping to find programs that above all else filled gaps in my areas of interest.

 

...also, as an aside, does anyone know how related to research interests a writing sample should be? At the moment it seems like I'm going to have to write an entirely new paper, and was hoping others had experience with this.

 

Thanks in advance...if anyone replies I'll be sure to follow up/reply back!

[ouibeque]

Hi there, Frthrow! I'm currently in a French PhD track at an Ivy, and based on my knowledge of MA programs, your interests do sound a bit specific... those are more the kinds of concerns one would be likely to focus on when applying to doctoral programs. That said, though, the best thing to do is to focus not on a program but on faculty (just as you would, really, if applying for PhDs). Look for faculty who are publishing interesting work in your areas of interest, and then research the programs at their institutions to see if they offer MAs. Of course, you could reverse engineer this as well by looking at MA programs and then seeing if there are faculty there working in these fields. And don't hesitate to contact departments to find out about things like sabbaticals and retirements if there are specific faculty who would attract you, as (especially in a 2-year program), that kind of thing can really impact what you're able to work on. If you ring up or email a department, you'll likely just be dealing with a secretary or an admin, and they are generally very nice if you are polite, and are also unlikely to share your comments with professors. Hell, you don't even have to give your real name if you don't want! You can also ask what professors are likely to be teaching in the next few semesters; they usually know that kind of thing a good bit in advance, although none of it is set in stone. In any event, your work in an MA will undoubtedly be more general than what you'd be doing in a PhD. Think of it like this: if you do a program that is MA + PhD, it's really not until you've completed the MA that you really focus on your specific interests. Doing a terminal MA is somewhat different, as you'll undoubtedly write a thesis that allows you to work on things of interest to you, but your coursework will likely be broad-based. 

 

On your other point: your writing sample definitely doesn't need to perfectly align with your SOP. It's probably not a bad idea if they're at least a bit related--by period, by theme, by some other "point de contact", but they're more looking to see if you can produce something well-written, scholarly, and interesting than to see "does s/he REALLY want to study what s/he claims to be interested in???". So some overlap is a positive, but a total cadrage is unnecessary and not expected. It's also good for your SOP to reflect your interests while also demonstrating your openness to new ideas--so don't be too much like "OMG ARTAUD I LOVE HIM SOOOOOO MUCH AND IT'S ALL I EVER WANT TO TALK ABOUT EVER!!!!!". They want to know you're excited about things, but they also want to see that you know that you have more to learn. At least, that's the consensus amongst those I know. I'm happy to have others correct/amend these claims.