help me with my english dissertation

[OnlyWantsOne]

I have to start seriously planning my dissertation in English. Except, for the last 2 years I have read nothing but the books on my course (which I have now been examined on, I cant write about again)

Can any one suggest a good dissertation topic (it has to be literary) or an author that could be interesting to study?

I was thinking about developing the maternal roles withing Jodi Picoult novels, but that, even in my pregnant head, sounds like a crock of shite.

[SleepingLion]

The trouble with Jodi Picoult is that she's not regarded as that literary...

What are you interested in? Dystopian fiction is always a fascinating topic to look at for a dissertation (I have A Level students doing their A2 coursework on it now) with lots of choice of texts and topics. You could look at The Handmaid's Tale, Brave New World, 1984, A Clockwork Orange, etc.

The dissertation I really want to write and would if I was doing a university course now is the subversion of the fairy tale - so comparing the original tales of Andersen and Grimm and Perrault to modern versions such as Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife. I would love to do that.

[OnlyWantsOne]

ooo subverse childrens lit ...

Jodi Picoult isn't literary no, I know, but I just cant mould my mind on to any other author

[latrucha]

You could borrow half a dozen Booker winners from the library and find one you like. Ireally think it has to come from something you find interesting. JM Coetzee springs to mind as a v.literary Booker winner.

Does it have to be a novellist? Could you sit down forn an evening with the Norton Anthology of poetry and see what Ttakes you?

[OnlyWantsOne]

I can do any thing, book, film, photo, poetry, prose, fiction, non fiction anything from Oscar Wilde to Tennessee Williams.

[callista]

Ooh I wrote on metaphor and metonymy in post apocalyptic fiction for my undergrad degree five years ago - I loved reading for it and writing it and could recommend a whole host of books.

Like sleeping lion says - so many brilliant books in dystopian/apocalyptic fiction! All of the above recs plus David Mitchell's 'Cloud Atlas', Russell Hoban's 'Riddley Walker', Atwood's 'Oryx & Crake', McCarthy's 'The Road'.

The secondary literature is not all that easy to come by, but there is enough out there to really inform your argument.

Apocalyptic fiction is still my favourite (sometimes guilty) reading choice and I'm still working my way through the classics of the genre and the new books five years after I graduated.

[OnlyWantsOne]

now that does sound interesting!! and completely different from what Ive studied!

Infact, I just had to google post apocalyptic fiction

[OnlyWantsOne]

oh, cant I get a whole dissertation out of the Gruffalo?

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

Well what sort of topiccs interest you - what is it about jodi picoult's mothers? Then people could suggest some more books.

Not sure how much "literariness" of the authors chosen will matter that much - you'd need to talk to the tutor/lecturer. My friend did her (Oxford) dissertation on online fan fiction fgs :o

[latrucha]

I had a lecturer who did his dissertation on two lines of Milton, so I'm sure the Gruffalo is rich pickings!

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

I bet you can do it about parenting in children's books.

Are children's books really "parent's books" - i.e. are they written to appeal to the parent (who will be the one buying it most probably). Do the bestselling childrens books tell you more about the messages that modern parents want to impart to their children, or the messages they want to believe themselves?

and such

[OnlyWantsOne]

we were warned not to do a comparative, such as does the parenting depicted in the gruffalos child reflect the cautionary tale of Peter Rabit

as its dull to read

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

Well that would be dull to read - how much is this book like this other book :)

But I doubt you'd want to do that anyway, you would probably be losing the will to live after a few thousand words of that.

But you can do a similar but more interesting thing by looking at trends, e.g. how has the idea of the forest as a place of danger been subverted in children's books 1996-2010? or whatever (not suggesting that btw!)

[OnlyWantsOne]

oooo no I like that :P

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

:o

I'm no expert on children's books - but what have you noticed about the modern ones as oppsoed to those you had as a child?

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

(BTW the reason I'm going on about kids books is because they're so delightfully short. Did mine on poetry for the same reason)

[SleepingLion]

If you are allowed to do films, you can draw a number of films into the subversion of fairy tales idea. My sister looked at Working Girl and Pretty Woman when she did her uni dissertation as variations of the Cinderella tale.

[OnlyWantsOne]

If Picoult isnt literary enough - how about examining the maternal role within popular womens fiction of the 21st century? Or of a selection of specific authors?

[Threelittleducks]

I did mine on the development of fiction for children from Medieaval times and right up until the Victorian period, focusing on the authors Lewis Carroll and J.M Barrie.

It was awesome!

I explored Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Fairy Tales, educational texts for children....ah it it was so good!

And the best bit was it didn't feel like work because it was truly fascinationg to find out the role that literature played in childrens' lives and how that role changed as time went on.

I also did some work on J.M Barrie and how he was the real Peter Pan - if you look into his life, it is so very interesting. I compared this with Lewis Carroll's relationship with his muse - the real Alice.
Very very interesting.

[OnlyWantsOne]

I found the discovery about Lewis and the real Alice, infact, Lewis and his relationship with children in the whole, very disturbing.

[Threelittleducks]

Or, or, or....

Enid Blyton??

Sure her literature compared to modern children's literature could be interesting enough.
Also, I heard her books have been bought and rehashed by Disney - could be interesting to see how they modify it for today's kids?
Or if they haven't, you could compare them with Disney tales? Obviously Disney saw fit to have them as part of their collection, so thus must have seen some similarities with their own previous work?

[OnlyWantsOne]

ok, ok... no childrens lit

Ive emailed my lecturer, she's recommended I read of Woman Born by Adriene Rich

[Threelittleducks]

Carrol was very strange.

On closer inspection I totally agree - Carroll = scary man. Barrie on the other hand was such an innocent man. So....childlike. Genuinely.
No matter how others tried to discredit him.
I found it very interesting as an example of how attitudes towards men's relationships with children have changed over time, and how this has tainted the reputations of such authors.

[OnlyWantsOne]

Carroll is quoted as asking a parent in what state of undress they were happy to have their child photographed!!!!!

[Threelittleducks]

Yes! He photographed Alice Liddell naked without her mothers permission.
Scary man!

[OnlyWantsOne]

that settles it, no children's lit all that subverted naughty stuff