Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MollyBloom]

Two reasons (among others) why I came here to teach was to take a leave of absence from university to start researching for my thesis topic (it's due in Nov. 2009, but I want a BIG head start) and to come back to the states and pay for the rest of my schooling.

I have the topic focus narrowed down to two authors who I would like to research: James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. The only problem with this is that Joyce is researched so heavily and frequently; it is often difficult to 1) find something unique and 2) recycling old criticism and adding something modern can be painstakingly boring.

Now with Wilde, criticism nowadays is not as frequent on him, and frankly, it p1sses me off that the majority of critics always revolve their argument around his hom0sexuality and /or hom0sexual themes. The latter statement encourages me to want to write on that author, just to get some different criticism out there.

I have been reading journal articles from my university's e-resources, the major works, and a shatload of critical essays in book form since I have been here. I have made myself a promise to have a topic picked out at the end of the summer, but I am encountering more of a problem: I enjoy reading Joycean criticism much more than Wildean criticism, but I feel that it might be easier to find something on Wilde because not a lot is being written about him lately. I feel closer to Joyce's characters, but I have been reading him more than Wilde as of late.

I have gotten advice to really enjoy the topic I will be researching since I will be spending a year of my life (and maybe more) working on it, but also there is the idea that if something comes more easily, one should lean in that direction.

Also, since my thesis will be published and put into the university library after its completion, I'd really like to add something great to the scholarly community (and also, not look like a dummy).

For those of you that have gotten a Master's in Lit, I am just curious on your thesis topics, and how your research process went.

Also, for those interested, I would be willing to post my ideas on specific topics.

[beachbumNC]

Hey there. I don't have a Master's, but want to get one. You are a little farther along than me as far as deciding where you want to go with it.

I for one like reading Joyce better than Wilde. But you mentioned that there's a lot more Joyce criticism than Wilde criticism out there. That just might be because more of us Lit nerds like reading Joyce

You, however, seem to like Wilde quite a lot (I should hope so if you're thinking about such a big project focused on his work). And you made a good point about there not being much out there about Wilde that isn't really just about what he liked to do in the bedroom. So, I say go with Wilde and figure out something original to say about his work. Haha, you have until 2009, so you should be able to get that big headstart you need.

Good luck!!

[MollyBloom]

Yeah...it's just such a tough decision! I know that Wilde and Bram Stoker were friends and rivals (Stoker stole his girlfriend and married her), and there is some criticism that says Stoker consequently based Dracula on Wilde; he wrote it after Wilde was thrown in jail, but the novel is really a criticism of how "society" thought of Wilde, and not how Stoker himself thought of him. I guess he felt sorry for Wilde. Actually, if I write about Wilde, I was thinking of comparing Dracula to The Portrait of Dorian Gray.

With Joyce, I love Stephen Dedalus, so I was thinking of writing something about the character during Portrait, Stephen Hero, and Ulysses.

[Woland]

[MollyBloom]

Now, that, is the gayest thing I have ever heard of.

Zeitgeist and Omphalos. Scaaaryyy.

[swetepete]

Why don't you write about the state of recent Wilde criticism as compared to Joyce criticism, perhaps better classified as 'the James Joyce Industry?' Or are you hoping to stay closer to the original sources?

You could talk about how Wilde is under-appreciated, as a writer, because of his famous flamboyant flame-out* and subsequent early demise, while Joyce has been pretty much sainted by the Irish, despite being little-read, and despite having left the place for France.

If the state of contemporary Wildean criticism (god, I hate making adjectives out of names--BTW, I intend to write my MA on the subject of 'Kafkaesque is a Terrible Terrible Word and Should Be Changed to Kafkish or Kafkan') pisses you off so much, why not savage it in a well researched MA thesis? That'd be fun, and if you have some passion for the subject, maybe it'd be a good cornerstone for your year-long project.

*pun intended, alliteration unavoidable

[MollyBloom]

Good ideas! It's something I'll think about! Thanks!


I really did not commit to anything yet, so I am not sticking to original sources all the way yet. That's what I am researching now: rereading Richard Ellman's bios, all the works I am interested in, criticism on anything that interests me...

I am in the complete elementary stages right now, just kind of feeling out the things I really like, and the things I dislike, also to be noted.

[oneofthesarahs]

The reason that there is so much Joyce criticism out there is because you can say basically say anything about Joyce you want to, and you'll be able to find SOMETHING in his oeuvre that will back it up.

[swetepete]

[MollyBloom]