English Degree Anyone?

[littlewoman]

No, I'm not giving one away lol.
I'm preparing my dissertation proposal and I wondered if anyone could suggest whether I had chosen a worthwhile topic? Thank you

What topic have you chosen?

Oh, thanks Seeker.
Well, I'm always interested in reactions to books like 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Huckleberry Finn' because I tend to believe they are anti-racist. Quite often though, black people see them as racist, especially disliking the representations of the Afrio-American characters in the books. So, I wanted to have a look at why different races could not have the same reading experience (not that anyone ever has the same reading experience!)
I was going for a cognitive psychological approach, in which identification with the characters depends on memories, emotions and ideas evoked by the text. I was going to try to tie this in with Bakhtin, and black theory.
Whaddya think??? Thank you so much for listening.

Thank you, Justabout. I don't have a working title - just that idea floating around in my head at present. I don't even know what books to relate it to, because I've just done an essay on Huck Finn, and don't know if I can write about that text, again, in my dissertation.

You need to go back to reception or reader-response theory, as well, I would think.

Hi little woman

I got a pretty good English degree and had a real interest in nineteeth century slavery. My dissertation involved exploring Uncle
Tom's Cabin (Beecher Stowe) and I also used Bakhtininan theory, in terms of polyphony and the 'struggle' between voices, white and black, male and female. It was a couple of years ago though and its surprising how quickly I've forgotten it! However, I did look at how Beecher Stowe attempted to write an anti-racist novel in terms of creating Uncle Tom as a 'black Christ', but actually, caused uproar in the black community, which still pervades now. Let me know if you want any more help - I've probably still got the reading list and I got a really good mark for it, so must have done something right!

I did consider that at the beginning, Lionheart, but then I wandered off to Bakhtin. I think you are right though. Essentially this is a reader-response question, with a cognitive psychological type approach to the (my) answer, isn't it? Thank you for your help.

Countrylass, I'm actually reading Uncle Tom's Cabin at the moment, not for my course, just for myself, but I'm not that far in. I wonder why it caused an uproar in the community. Excuse my ignorance, but was Harriet Beecher Stowe black? I thought she was. I wonder if it would be worth juxtaposing her representation of a decent black man (and his public reception) with, say, Harper Lee's representation of the same?

I think you need to be careful with the cognitive psychology in case you get a grouchy examiner

who thinks you are straying too far from your discipline.

If you have the reception/reader response material in there somewhere

(even in the background, footnotes, bibliography) it might help you to avoid that kind of reaction.

It sounds interesting.

HBS not black but she used various slave narratives as her source material.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was white. She came from a 'well to do', very religious family and her representation of Uncle Tom caused many reactions. The uproar from black people (both then and now) mainly came from the fact that was presented as being quite docile and submissive (even though this is presented in a Christ like way). He also comes accross as having a feminine side, which again, wasn't received well. The problem was that Stowe was a sentimentalist, and she tried to combine the essence of sentimetalism - feeling - with slavery and thereby change peoples' attitudes - in simple terms, appeal to hearts rather than minds. Arguably this worked for some, but for others, such as white male slave owners, it was too difficult to make the jump from seeing slavery purely in practical terms to emotional terms. However, it's important to make the distinction between then and now - in my dissertation I contrasted attitudes both at the time the text was written and the present time. There was also controversy about the way other black people were presented - I can't remember exactly, but I'm sure there is a part about some black children which by today's standards appears racist.

There was the problem of Eva and Topsy - Topsy is portrayed (I think) in racist terms by today's standards. She's wild, unruly, ugly, compared to Eva, who, as her name suggests in angelic. Tom's 'friendship' with her was also problematic. Readers found it too difficult to believe that an angel would love a black man, and in one part it is suggested that black and white would become equal in heaven which was just too much in those times.

With regards to To Kill A Mockingbird - I didn't read this until last summer, purely for leisure, and although I thought it was fantastic, I haven't studied it with an 'academic' mind! From what I can remember, Lee presents the black man accused of rape in a very positive light (? correct me if I'm wrong). I think it's also written in a very different style and obviously a few decades on. God, I could really get my teeth into this - I wish I were doing my disseration again!

Also meant to say that Stowe primarily based Uncle Tom on a black slave called Josiah Henson. You can read his slave narrative.

Righty-hoo, Lionheart, thanks for the warning I shall go back to reader response theory and see how I can make my approach a reasonable response to / extension of that. Don't want to fail after all I've been through lol.

There were objections to Harper Lee's portrayal of a black man as (again) too docile / submissive. Then he runs away from prison and gets shot in the attempt, so this was considered a cowardly act (I tend to see it as a 'give me liberty or give me death' type thing, myself, though). I'm really very grateful for all your suggestions and thoughts. I'm going to bed now, but thank you so, so much.

Great film, The Colour Purple. I can't remember the plot exactly, though, so I'll look it up. Thank you for the suggestion, WW.

Justabout, I think I do have the capacity to mix the two subjects. I have always read on an 'affective' level so my interest and belief in the theory will probably spur me on. However, I will contact my tutor for support and see if she will give me some advice ( maybe even a title )

beloved toni morrison

Yes, now it's often Tony Morrison's theories that I don't see eye to eye with. I believe she also writes books, too, though. Do you have any recommendations, Hedonia?

same, she's very hard core. bleak

Oh, what a thick ticket! 'Beloved' is a book. I thought you were saying Toni Morrison was beloved to you . Okay, they've got that in the uni library. Thank you Hedonia (still laughing!)

I don't understand Derrida Probably just as well, or I'd try and work him in my dissertation somewhere too. I just can't seem to think small, or focus finely enough.

Lol. I've been over-careful with mine because we're in the student-parent section, you know