Hi Everyone,
Wonder if anyone can help me out at all here...got myself into a bit of a fix with my undergrad dissertation. My big idea(plan A) was to examinine existential elements in literature. I had planned to have chapter one as a defining chapter where i would define existentialism(LOL) through Sartre then go on to examine Nausea and The Wall ..Chap.2.Dostoevsky's "Note's from the Underground"&Kafka's "The Trial". Chapter Three was to take a look a Camus' L'Etranger followed by a brave attempt to analyse Fight Clubas a neo-existentialist piece.
Now...I realize that I was being overly ambitious...and apart from feeling an acute sense of the blues from reading so many utterly depressing works at once...I'm also getting a severe sense of dread as the thing is due in soon and I can't seem to reduce it.
Defining existentialism is impossible.Getting literary criticism has proved difficult as most commentators concentrate on the "philosophy" and not the art...which is what I should be homing in on.
I've decided to scap Kafka and maybe even Palahniuk as I feel they are confusing matters. I do like Camus' work so I think I may just concentrate on him on Chapter 3.
The trouble is I need a clear line of argument...which I am severely lacking. Reducing Dostoevsky's piece to mere existentialism would be ridiculous as it's more a Swiftian satire and I feel like I'm blinding myself to this if I do what Kaufman does and only consider pt1 of the novel. Also since it isn't essentially an existentialist novel, there's no existential criticism. Most books just re-print Part one, with little or no explanation of existential elements.
Nausea..is obviously existential...but all criticism is purely philosophical.
I'd be incredibly grateful if anyone could assist me in formulating a clear argument....it's the proposal that's giving me the most trouble. What elements should I concreate on in each of the books...if anyone is familiar with these books perhaps you could help me break it down....I feel like I'm sinking into the void. lol
Thank you in advance!