Advice on some Comp.Lit nuances

[Francophile1]

So, I have finally decided what I want to study (I think) and am seeking some advice now. I have done significant research in various PhD programs and need to make a right choice here.

I've decided that I would like to specialize in literature, after debating long and hard between that and linguistics. My current MA is in Foreign lit/language and technically I could continue on to the PhD, however I am really interested in interdisciplinary work and am looking at Comp. Lit departments because of this. But before I make this huge decision I need some answers.

 

As I understand, if I stay in a national language program I would have to concentrate in this language, and although it is possible to do some interdisciplinary work, the priority would be placed on that language. I am however more interested in the intersection of two languages/culture/lit disciplines and possibly other disciplines such as art and theater.

 

Here are some of my main questions:

- Is there a stigma against comp. lit PhD's? As far as jobs go, I know that people usually get employed mostly in National Lang. departments, so is it more advisable to follow a path within a national Lit department rather than Cop. Lit?

- Do students in Comp. Lit departments actually teach Language classes, or they are mostly placed in comp lit or composition classes as TA's?

- If you would advise someone like me with very interdisciplinary interests, would you advise for or against Comp. Lit?

Your answers are much appreciated!

[Bleep_Bloop]

Didn't you say a week or two ago that you weren't at all interested in literature and wanted to move to a linguistics department?  You say you think you want to do literature (and now art and theater). I'd take some time off and wait until you're positive. You might do well to sit out this application season until you're sure (you might change your mind again in a week). Sorry if that sounds harsh, but you've kind of been all over the place on this (on three separate boards, according to my count). What gives? Have you decided that you must go to graduate school, and now you're trying to pick what interests you? You're doing it backwards, if that's the case.

[Francophile1]

LKs thank you for your input but I am really looking to hear answers to my particular questions now..from some other posters. It's not that I do not appreciate responses on whether it is advisable to go to grad school etc...but as I am making my decision here I need to get the answers to my questions above.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Well, I don't want to pour fuel on any perceived fire, but...I agree with LKS. Uncertainty at this stage is a little concerning. Maybe it will work for you, but you really don't want to find yourself in a situation where you've been shut-out of a program because you couldn't make a convincing and demonstrable case that you belong in that program. Likewise, you don't want to get accepted to a program, only to realize that it's really not your interest level.

 

It's not my place to "look out for you," but I'm just telling you how your posts are coming across -- as a bit fickle and uncertain...and both of those things aren't good to have at this point in the process.

[Francophile1]

I understand all of this, but I really don't see why people can't just answer my direct questions, which I am asking anyway because I am trying to make some personal decisions here, instead of trying to lecture me whether it is right for me to go get a PhD. I really think that is for me to worry about...ANyway, if anyone is TRULY in the field of comp lit and can answer the questions I originally posted I would appreciate it.

[Francophile1]

P.S my "uncertainty" is exactly that is why I am trying to find out all of this info...It does not mean I am going to apply to a program tomorrow. I am just trying to get all the info I need.

[johnmarksteve]

Here's my advice, Francophile: stick with national literature departments unless you feel like you really must be in a comparative literature department. Almost all comp lit graduates get jobs in non-comp lit departments. Which departments you can apply to will depend on your focus. Also, it should be said that the language requirements in comp lit programs are quite strict; it does vary from program to program (some are stricter than others), but by and large your language skills will be among the first (if not the first) thing considered in your application. At least this is how it works at Yale. You've said that you studied linguistics, so I can imagine you have good language skills--nonetheless, many of the comp lit grad students that I know were multi-lingual from an early age. 

 

There isn't stimga against interdisciplinarity, although I suppose that depends on your definition. There's a lot of push back happening right now against the national literature paradigm, periodization, and the like--and much of the most interesting work right now moves across the temporal and spatial boundaries we're used to. But it should also be said that much of that work is coming from already tenured professors (ie already experts in such periods). My suggestion would be to familiarize yourself (as best as possible) with the different characteristics of different departments: some being more liberal than others. If you're interested in working with anglophone lit. then there are definitely a few english depts that would appeal to you--meaning they have more open boundaries to the kind of work it seems like you wanna do. 

 

as for teaching: yeah, a comp lit students teach language classes post-coursework, unless youre in english in which case you teach 101 equivalents. again depending largely on the program, the university (public or private), etc. 

 

there isn't a stigma against comp lit or against interdisciplinarity as such: reservations come from being practical (ie, what you'll be able to teach, where you'll be able to get your books published, and of course the difficulty of gaining expertise in variety of fields, periods, languages, etc.). There's also a lot of "neither fish nor fowl" arguments against comp lit, as in youll get breadth but not depth, but I think that just depends on your work. 

 

I hope this helps. For what it's worth, im not a comp lit student. 

[ExponentialDecay]

There isn't stimga against interdisciplinarity, although I suppose that depends on your definition. There's a lot of push back happening right now against the national literature paradigm, periodization, and the like--and much of the most interesting work right now moves across the temporal and spatial boundaries we're used to. But it should also be said that much of that work is coming from already tenured professors (ie already experts in such periods). My suggestion would be to familiarize yourself (as best as possible) with the different characteristics of different departments: some being more liberal than others. If you're interested in working with anglophone lit. then there are definitely a few english depts that would appeal to you--meaning they have more open boundaries to the kind of work it seems like you wanna do. 

 

I'm just a lowly undergrad, but I wouldn't think it's fair to infer from the statement that there is pushback happening against the national literature paradigm the notion that Comp Lit degrees and departments become more valuable. Maybe marginally it has become more valuable for scholars to be able to conduct research under the interdisciplinary auspices of a Comp Lit program, at some places no less because it reduces the red tape of interdepartmental collaboration as because of the collaboration per se, but according to my observations, Comp Lit is still very much in the shitter.

 

1. Academia likes (and is historically built around) divisions, specializations, specifics, and other orderings. The trump card of the national lit department will always be that it has "ownership" of its literature in the sense that it determines its canon as it is taught to students and discussed in the profession and introduces itself as a purveyor of that literature. Like, most people who have questions about the Fed will go to an economist, even if a political scientist or sociologist may be more able to answer the particular question asked, simply because the Fed deals with money and we associate money with economics; similarly, people who have questions about TS Eliot would turn to an Eng Lit person if going by degree alone, rather than a comparatist, even if TS Eliot is internationally intertextual. In Comp Lit you also study a canon, but you have infinite choice over what canon you study, and that engenders doubt over what, how, and with whom you study it.

 

2. Administratively, Comp Lit is where they dump a) courses that are too general or too theoretic to be in a nat lit dept, and professors of literatures whose depts aren't represented and other randoms that need a home. I suspect it's largely a funding issue: if you look around, you find that most professors in Comp Lit have double appointments with a national lit or other department, and that's no accident. People understand the value of interdisciplinary work, but they still prefer to work from a certain framework, and to work with people who are also working from a framework which is different from theirs, but still institutionalized. Plus, there's a -studies department for practically any old thing out there nowadays, and we're not gonna see massive closings until those guys start retiring.

 

Comp Lit is like a self-designed major. You have to know, much more than your national literature peers, what your research interests are, exactly where you lean in terms of methods, whom you want to work with (because finding a person who will be the first reader on your dissertation comparing French and Swahili texts is daunting), and exactly where you want to end up afterwards. Prestige of the program, too, matters more, because you can't rely on knowing everything about, say, Druidic myth, and being known by everyone in your exclusive 10-person national literature community. People will have a rather amoebous idea of what your degree actually means, so you will have to sell your degree, even where your Yale Harold Bloom-advised degree sells itself.