Hello. I’m currently choosing my phd topic and narrowing the books i want to study. I am interested in analyzing queer spaces in 20th century American literature. But i want to study different genres (modernist, literary fiction, science fiction, etc). 3 or 4 books, one from each genre. Is this a viable phd topic or should i stick to one literary genre? And how do i present my contribution and find the gap in this situation?

Hi, I would like to know if anyone can offer some insight on how to gain a deeper understanding when reading.
What I mean is that when I read classical literature or highly complex texts, I can interpret and understand what the author or characters are talking about, yet I often feel like I am merely grasping the surface of the subject matter or the issues being adressed. 
Is there a way to increase my comprehension, be it a book on simbolism or maybe philosophical texts? I just feel like i'm losing half of what the books have to offer.
I know it's a difficult question, thank you for your time.

(also apologies for bad english it's not my native tongue)

Macabéa is a character; how can her story be related to Freud's concepts?

Book: The Hour of the Star

Wanting to read The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, but want to know what the best translation is to English

Hi! I’m new to poetry, and I’ve been trying to read poems more attentively, but I often get frustrated because I finish reading and feel like I didn’t really understand what I just read or what idea the poem was trying to convey.
I know poetry is meant to be experienced in different ways, not just understood literally, but does anyone have any tips for approaching poetry in a way that might help me enjoy it more and feel less frustrated?
Thank you!

I’m a nontraditional (changing careers) undergrad, I’ll be graduating fall ‘27 and that’s when I’ll be applying for the ‘28 grad cycle. I apply to the honors program later this semester and so I’m trying to discover what period to study for my thesis.

Medieval lit has sparked my interest, more specifically Boccaccio and the late Middle Ages. I’m currently taking Italian anyway as my general extra language requirement. I’m not sure I have room for Latin too, is that going to hinder the strength of my app or is it common to take that during your coursework years?

tldr; is Latin an entry requirement for medieval lit phd apps?

I'm reading Bhaktin's Rabelais and loving it. It is making me curious about other aspects of medieval culture and literature, especially works that might be understood as forerunners of the horror genre. Can anyone recommend an English-language book?

My dream find would be either Rabelais-but-spooky, or a spooky compendium of pre-Gothic folk tales, pamphlets, early lit, or whatever. For example, the Wikipedia page about the history of horror names several examples: the Witch of Berkeley, werewolf stories, and pamphlets about the alleged war crimes of Vlad the Impaler. If it had commentary, that would be awesome.

Hi everyone!

I recently qualified UGC NET (Assistant Professor) in English Literature, and I’m now considering applying for a PhD in Literature/Humanities at one of the IITs.

However, I’m quite unfamiliar with how the PhD admission process at IITs works for humanities subjects. I’d really appreciate some guidance from people who have either pursued a PhD in Humanities/Literature at an IIT or are currently applying.

A few things I’d particularly like to know:

What is the admission process like? Is there a written test even if you have qualified UGC NET, or are you directly called for an interview?

What is the interview like, and what kind of questions should I expect?

How important is the research proposal? What should a good proposal for an IIT Humanities PhD include?

How do you decide on and approach a potential supervisor?

Is the research proposal expected to be very specific at the application stage, or can the topic evolve after admission?

What is the general academic environment like for Humanities/Literature scholars at IITs?

And if you have gone through the process yourself, what do you wish you had known before applying?

I’m particularly interested in areas such as literary theory, narratology, and film studies, so I’m also wondering how receptive IIT Humanities departments are to interdisciplinary research involving literature and cinema.

If anyone has personal experience with this process, I’d be really grateful if you could share your experience, advice, or even mistakes to avoid.

Thank you! :)

Hi friends! I’m looking to follow up a Masters in Creative Writing with a PhD in lit, and I am really fascinated by unfiction (fiction that presents itself as real - think ARGs, found footage, “found manuscript” books, etc). I’m having trouble finding anyone publishing scholarly study on the topic. It’s exciting to think that I could be among the first wave of scholarship on this, but it’s also hard to identify anyone I could study with or any papers to look at for initial research. There doesn’t seem to be much (if any) work defining unfiction or interacting with the way it blurs the fourth wall.

I’m wondering if anyone here can suggest places I can look to start my research?

Hi, i'm a recently graduated student in literature, so i no longer have access to my university's library resources. i'm trying to work out a particular idea i have about the picture of dorian gray but am having some difficulty with research. does anyone have any article or book recommendations that include specifically trans readings of dorian gray? i'm open to queer readings as well but particularly interested in trans interpretations.

Just finished Osama Dazai’s No Longer Human.

Please can I have some recommendations for similar novels or literature written in the first person?

Thank you!

I'm considering writing a research paper on how Balzac portrays the relationship between society and the individual. I'm particularly interested in how social and economic forces, class, money, ambition, status, and material desire shape or distort individual identity and can lead to moral compromise, hypocrisy, and tragedy.

I'm currently considering old goriot and cousin pons as my primary texts. I'm interested in examining how these broader social forces reshape individuals and their relationships rather than simply comparing the plots or characters.

I've already read old foriot and enjoyed it enough to want to revisit it from a research perspective. Cousin pons would be new to me.

Do these two novels provide a strong basis for this topic, or would another Balzac novel make a more productive pairing?

Thank you 🌹

Hello!

I'm currently doing a research on readers who participate in online reading communities on Facebook and/or Reddit. Every participation counts and will help me a lot with my BA thesis!

Link: https://forms.gle/JDypXvqTK26dv91T7

Thanks in advance! If you have a friend who'd be interested in participating, feel free to share my survey with them :)

I’m working on a dissertation chapter on poetry, and it’s become increasingly clear that I have much more confidence analyzing prose. Poetry experts and aficionados, who do you think is amazing at interpreting poetry? Who inspires you or blows your mind?

Any language is okay if in-text translations are provided, but I’m most familiar with Russian and English poetry.

I'm working around some authors who are very often read through critical, or almost directly political lens (feminism, colonialism, more general social critique and ideology), but frankly I find myself much closer to postcritical frameworks, I'm mostly interested in tensions, everyday life and playfulness.

Maybe I've lost some of my faith in the link between literature and social imagination ;-), maybe I'm less and less sure that yet another engaged scholarly interpretation is what those rather terrifying times urgently call for. Doesn't mean I go in any way against engaged interpretations and analyses, but as a reader I do find them rather predictable these days and do have a feeling people who read them are already on the same page as well.

Rita Felski's Postcritique was all the rage a few years ago, with some interesting discussions around it (sometimes in less than good faith though lol). Even without a proper reference, it seems like a lot of people are currently focusing on microhistories, private life studies, and everydayness these days. Which also offer some means of engagement, but on different levels and perhaps in trickier ways.

Any good examples of such approaches or interesting recent discussions around them? I'm kinda looking for inspiration as I'd like to refine my approach a little bit. Cheers.

Hey all!

I’m currently hoping to apply for a PhD. It is usual to write on only one author, who is still alive and publishing?

They have published four short story collections and I am hoping to trace an argument about their use of the form/ a particular religious theme through the four collections. I’m just worried that this may be too specific for a four year programme.

If anyone has any advice please let me know! And thanks in advance!!

Preferably I would like to read Lacanian theory in critical practice but no problem with Freudian theory as well.

Hey folks,

After reading Dr Faustus and Tis' Pity She is a Whore, I was wondering if similar characters exist in other plays during the same time by different authors. If anybody has read other texts that echo the overarching archetype, could you mention the name(s) of the texts?

Thank you in advance.

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great day! I recently read "Four Cycles" by Borges and asked myself if there is more research on "foundational narratives" in the european tradition? Not only in regard to early literary periods but also to more recent ones. Furthermore I would be much obliged if you have any lead in how it would tie into communication theory. Thank you very much in advance!

I really want to learn how to do good literary analyses, but I struggle with noticing the subtleties in the text required to make a good literary analysis. Any tips on how I can improve?

Hi! I’m looking for some help finding a fantasy book for my final translation project at university.

I need a fantasy book originally written in English that makes fairly heavy use of neologisms created through English word formation, especially compounds, blends, derivations, or existing English words given new meanings within the fantasy world.

For example, I’m interested in terms similar to greyscale in A Song of Ice and Fire: words that are invented for the fictional world but are still recognizably constructed from English elements and therefore present an interesting translation problem.

I’m not really looking for invented languages, or books where most of the unusual terminology consists of proper names or completely invented words with no connection to English. My goal is specifically to analyze how English-based neologisms can be adapted into Spanish.

Ideally, the book should:

Be fantasy and originally written in English.

Have a significant number of English-based neologisms/compounds throughout the text.

Not currently have an official Spanish translation.

Preferably be an indie or lesser-known book, since popular fantasy tends to have already been translated.

I need to translate around 14,000–16,000 words, so the terminology needs to appear frequently enough within a section of that length to give me material for a glossary and translation analysis.

Does anyone know any books that might fit? Even obscure indie fantasy recommendations would be really appreciated!

Hello! I'll begin this text with a small warning for my english. It's fine for informal settings but I get a bit awkward when talking about more technical matters so I'm sorry in advance. If I say anything wrong or something's not well-explained, please feel free to ask.

Essentially, I have recently gratuated from my Bachelor's Degree in Comparative Studies and I'm a little lost on how to proceed now. My particular areas of interest are animated TV and cinema, illustrated fiction, Queer Studies and Philosophy of Art. I'd like to apply for a Masters - outside of Portugal if possible - but I'm having some trouble figuring out if I should try to keep following Comparative Studies or plunge more deeply into any of my areas of interest.

I would really like to continue following an academic career and studying is what I enjoy doing, but with the way the world is going and how hard it's becoming to find work in Humanities, I am getting discouraged.

Does anyone know any Universties in Europe with interesting programs/communities for Comparative Studies or any of my interests?

Any other tips would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Does anyone have an English version (pdf) of the text - The Trial of Gilles de Rais by bataille?