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I just can't find a good topic for my thesis...

treanir

treanir

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I am *supposed* to start writing my Master's thesis in March (i.e. tomorrow), but I still don't have a topic. Five weeks of reading, brainstorming, proposing and whatnot have left me with this: "AIDS literature". That's it. That's all I have. That and many ideas which were immediately shot down by my supervisor. Right now I have a ghost of a hint of an idea, but I can't get any feedback until Monday. Besides, my supervisor's said he'd gladly talk to me when I had a more literary plan ready (I tend to be too sociological/psychological), so I don't know if he'll appreciate a 'help me' shout-out.

I hate this. :(
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

what is your 'ghost of a hint of an idea?'

maybe we can give you feedback on that.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

"Functions of AIDS literature" i.e. What functions did it serve for the author and for the audience?
Not much to give feedback on, I'm afraid.

Plus, my supervisor has sent me an e-mail with an idea. I loved it when I read it, but as I was busy with something else that couldn't wait, I was unable to note down anything on it. And re-reading the e-mail, I have no clue what he's on about:

"I think you might look at, say, 'shame and sharing' as a topic, showing how each text affirms the need for sharing, even if it is only with a very few people. You could look especially at generic differences, e.g. between autobiography, novel, and film, and how each has its own limitations and possibilities in creating this bond of trust and solidarity with te reader/viewer."

I don't get what he means at all...
I'm ready to chuck the whole idea out of the window and just pick a nice safe topic. Say, Shakespare. ](*,)
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

at first blush i am getting that your advisor is looking at how aids literature foments shame in the disease itself and perhaps isolation of the infected person. it also sounds like he is questioning whether media (autobiography, novel, film) helps or hinder acceptance and education. but that's just my take on it.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

Something like how literature of different forms sch as autobiography, novel, Poetry etc. can be used to garner acceptance / understanding / tolerance or otherwise of those with HIV or AIDS. How the different forms of communication can be used to get different results and which ones best achieve these goals and how.

Sorry, best I can do.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

^
trawler69's post is a great idea. Personal narratives are another alternative to look at this problem.

treanir said:
"Functions of AIDS literature" i.e. What functions did it serve for the author and for the audience?
Click to expand...

That made think of Social Representations Theory (Moscovici et al) There are a good number of thought provoking articles on AIDS representation on the media (some of these studies have been conducted in France, Eastern Europe and Latin America)

I understand your potential frustration at this stage, but you have a great topic with many potential directions to choose from.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

Thanks for the ideas/explanations, guys!

I don't know if I could talk about what is in my last post for 15,000 words. More like, errrr... 200?
I've got a few new books that could help me ('Writing AIDS' and 'A History of Gay Literature') and I'm going to read them on the train in about an hour.

But I still *need* to talk to my supervisor.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

treanir said:
"I think you might look at, say, 'shame and sharing' as a topic, showing how each text affirms the need for sharing, even if it is only with a very few people. You could look especially at generic differences, e.g. between autobiography, novel, and film, and how each has its own limitations and possibilities in creating this bond of trust and solidarity with te reader/viewer."
Click to expand...

"Sharing" as in sharing emotions ("shame") and info on AIDS, I guess.

State ( with a bit of mild analysis):

1) How the relevant media and literature invokes the need for "sharing" (analyze how they "share" and why the feel they need to "share")

Compare and Contrast:

2) The differences between two different kinds of books and film (like Rent) with the subject AIDS being a large part of its context

Analysis of Findings:

3) The advantages (successful in creating "bond of trust and solidarity" with the reader/viewer) and disadvantages (not that effective in creating "bond of trust and solidarity" with the reader/viewer) of the different types of media involved when connecting with the viewer/reader about AIDS.

Hope this helps.

Or you could write about fairy tales (read Angela Carter's books), ancient oral literature (like the Mahabharata or Ramayana/ Chinese fairy tales) and bad, lousy writers ([STRIKE]Jubbers[/STRIKE] :lol: or Dan Brown). Or: "Why Ram is still a virgin"

Very underrated but interesting topics.

It would be a refreshing change.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

^ A completely new topic would require me to spend at least a week reading up on it. So AIDS lit it is. (it's also where my interest lies... I'm 'the guy who always writes about sex' !oops!)
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

How has the availability of AIDS related literature affected the HIV rate in (pick a state, city, town, community) per age grouping?
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

How about the positive impact of AIDS literature, and the application thereof, in third world countries. (Cynical joke)
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

What's the discipline?
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

Read Erich Gombrich's 'Ideals and Idols'.

It should inspire you to create a thesis topic.

Remember, you are out to create new knowledge by synthesizing potentially disparate fields of academic research.

Susan Sontag's ' Illness as Metaphor' might also be some inspiration.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

](*,)](*,)

Ram, GL and Trawler have all given you some great ideas.

a book you might include is And The Band Play On which dealt with the AIDS crises while the author was dealing with AIDS himself.

there is a dvd available about the entire story.

keep us posted Eric on how you are doing.

eM.:wave:
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

Or you could write about fairy tales (read Angela Carter's books), ancient oral literature (like the Mahabharata or Ramayana/ Chinese fairy tales) and bad, lousy writers (Jubbers or Dan Brown). Or: "Why Ram is still a virgin"
Click to expand...

Ram has just about put his finger on the essence of Gombrich's thesis.....
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

Some quick ideas that come to mind:
-- explore the idea of Pre-AIDS, AIDS, and Post-AIDS literature in comparison. Can there be said to be a truly Post-AIDS literature or is gay literature still so affected by the effects and legacy of AIDS that it cannot really be called post-AIDS lit? If there is a post-AIDS gay lit. then what are its new themes, etc.?
-- I like to read gay lit. so I can definitely recommend Andrew Holleran, Colm Toibin, and Alan Hollinghurst if you haven't read them yet. Very good writers now in their 50s-60s that deal with AIDS in quite a few of their books.
Hope it helps.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

I recall watching the movie Buddies around the end of the 1980's which is a film about people with AIDS. I'm sure there is more filmography such as the more recent Tom Hanks Philidelphia film, or the way famous people hid their AIDs status until the very end, like Rock Hudson that you could also allure to as part of a thread of stimulating the public conscience about the terrible disease.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

Eric, are you in a literature department?
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

treanir said:
"I think you might look at, say, 'shame and sharing' as a topic, showing how each text affirms the need for sharing, even if it is only with a very few people. You could look especially at generic differences, e.g. between autobiography, novel, and film, and how each has its own limitations and possibilities in creating this bond of trust and solidarity with the reader/viewer."

I don't get what he means at all...
I'm ready to chuck the whole idea out of the window and just pick a nice safe topic. Say, Shakespare. ](*,)
Click to expand...

I'm just a dunce, so anything I say may be meaningless, but here are my thoughts on your supervisor's suggestion.

1. Being "out" as far as being gay. Being in the closet is essentially (as far as I see it) a product of "shame". Sharing -- outing oneself or being outed involves "sharing" and taking a risk with that "shame". It involves a lot of things, such as potential loss of love [Will mom still love me if she knows?], loss of status [Will my friends still like me if they know?] or Will my teacher grade me more harshly if he knows?, loss of employment [Will I lose my job if my boss knows?] and so forth.


2. Then, being "out" as far as HIV status goes. Being "closeted" with this involves a "shame" which is both similar and different to the first, and the "sharing" (or "outing") carries, likewise, some similar and differing risks.

3. Something like a risk or cost/benefit analysis of the various examples. What's gained/lost/risked/embraced or whatever as someone "lives in" one of the various states, and moves to another, and the changes that brings.

Anyway, that's the basics of what his idea prompts from my perspective. As I before noted, it might not make much sense, nor be of much use.
 
Re: I just can't find a good topic for my thesis..

I just got home and I'm far too tired to make any coherent comments, but I'd like to say that I really appreciate your help and I will sift through them when my mind has switched on again.. And just to clarify: I'm in literature and, sadly, I can't venture from that too much. I needs to be a literary thesis and nothing else. (believe me, I've tried going somewhere different, but my supervisor just won't let me)

I'm somewhat closer to a topic that I think will be approved. I still need to discuss it with him though.
 
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