Postgraduate Dissertation - What would you write about?!?

[cats cradle]

I am studying a masters in modern and contemporary literature culture and thought, I am trying to decide what to choose for my dissertation topic/ title.... I need ideas basicallY! I have time to choose and author I have never heard of read from scratch, decide on new areas of interest... or old ones... I want to talk to someone about possible topics or authors. I don't want to end up doing the same 0ld things. What would you do- remember the only catch is that it should be 'modern or contemporary.'

My areas of interest have previosuly been in catharsis, sexuality, identity and desire. At the moment I am thinking about coetzee, woolf, kundera... but I want new suggestions for other writers I might like!

[Sebas. Melmoth]

My areas of interest have previosuly been in catharsis, sexuality, identity and desire

Um, why not check out the critical literature of Luce Irigaray, Hélène Cixous, Sandra Gilbert, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, Michel Foucault, Jeffery Weeks, Eve Kosofsky Sedwick, Jacques Lacan, Gilles Deleuze, and the like, and see if what they have to say piques your interest in any direction?

[Whifflingpin]

John Barth ought to be ripe for dissertations by now.

[bestmann]

I'm currently reading (and trying to stick to!) Joan Bolker's "Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day."
Everyone knows that 15 minutes a day isn't actually enough - its just the effort to work consistently as part of an everyday routine that matters. I am really struggling to hold myself accountable, and I thought I might reach out in order to find support - and support others.
It would be great to find and connect with other people also trying to work daily on their dissertations, in order to provide some online accountability. Basically, I am looking for a fellow ABD who is willing to check in with me 5 X a week (every weekday) around the progress of my writing. I vow to be completely honest with them (and myself) about where I am and how much I'm getting done. In return, I would do the same for someone who is also struggling to remain consistent with their progress.

[Sebas. Melmoth]

bestmann, if your writing is such a struggle, to put it plainly, you've got a problem: either your subject does not enthrall you, or you simply don't have anything to say about it.
(Usually it's the opposite: enthusiastic scholars have too much to say and much 'good stuff' must be deleted to narrow down and sharply focus a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation.)

Either way, if you're struggling so much, you should probably reassess your situation because you may be on the wrong track.

Speak with your advisors to map out a better plan.

[kelby_lake]

I am studying a masters in modern and contemporary literature culture and thought, I am trying to decide what to choose for my dissertation topic/ title.... I need ideas basicallY! I have time to choose and author I have never heard of read from scratch, decide on new areas of interest... or old ones... I want to talk to someone about possible topics or authors. I don't want to end up doing the same 0ld things. What would you do- remember the only catch is that it should be 'modern or contemporary.'

My areas of interest have previosuly been in catharsis, sexuality, identity and desire. At the moment I am thinking about coetzee, woolf, kundera... but I want new suggestions for other writers I might like!

If you're allowed plays and the 1950's count as recent...you can't go wrong with A Streetcar Named Desire.

[byquist]

Postmodernism is under attack. What is next? Post-postmodernism or anti-postmodernism? A return to realism?

Or, Sylvia Plath is a challenge like no other. Read her letters and diaries as well as lit.