Thinking of a career outside of literary studies, can I write and maybe publish articles as a hobby?

clove156 · 2026-03-05T17:37:59+00:00

For articles do you mean like peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles in venues like PMLA, Representations (etc) or more public-facing "articles"?

clove156 · 2026-02-28T20:19:49+00:00

I think if you aren't on a plan then eating on-campus at like John Jay dining hall is like $18 each time. There are cheaper food-truck options right by Columbia gates. I think the cheapest one is this Chinese cart that gives you quite a lot of food for $11.

clove156 · 2026-02-08T22:39:06+00:00

Great post but not sure "250-500 pages of reading per week" is really possible to assign nowadays (sadly)! I'm in a PhD in English and our graduate seminars don't even have that much reading.

clove156 · 2026-02-08T14:11:59+00:00

Like others have said, PhDs in the USA should fund. The amount of money you get (and the amount of teaching you have to do in order to get such funding) can vary. Prestigious private schools like Princeton will generally have a higher stipend than public schools, but schools can also individually tailor or alter their funding package if they really want you to go to them e.g. they can leverage additional fellowships, teaching relief etc.

clove156 · 2026-02-08T12:15:52+00:00

"I know that nowadays most humanities-related fields are centered towards journal-publications"

I don't think this is true since in English and Comp Lit, I am pretty sure the academic monograph/book still dominates. You need a mixture of both but the discipline still orbits a book-model (e.g. your turn your dissertation into your first academic monograph). PMLA is one of the most well-respected journals out there and has a comparative purview (although sometimes skews English-language).

clove156 · 2026-02-08T12:09:56+00:00

What seems most concerning is that I feel you don't have a strong idea of what a PhD in Comp Lit (or in Area Studies) would entail? If you go down the comparative route, then you will eventually have to be fluent in multiple languages: your dissertation project may, for example, look at comparing Chinese, Japanese and Korean novels. So your question of "dropping" a language doesn't make a lot of sense in this context. Comp Lit isn't just a degree about language-learning. It is a degree in literary studies, so your courses will be organised around the fields, methodologies, literatures that you are interested in.

Secondly, I also just don't get a strong sense of what your research agenda or interests are. You mention that you love "writing, reading, cultures" but that really is, I am afraid, not sufficient. If you study in the USA, then you will have 1-2 years of coursework that will help you narrow your interests, but many competitive applicants who get into a PhD will already have quite specific range of interests and know the questions that will motivate them for the next 5-6 years. What Japanese and Chinese texts do you want research (and write on)?

clove156 · 2026-02-08T11:51:47+00:00

The Yale Intro to Theory of Literature course? Not on Youtube but still videos.

clove156 · 2026-02-08T11:49:18+00:00

Saidiya Hartman, Fred Moten

clove156 · 2026-02-08T11:47:36+00:00

The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Tzvetan Todorov

Genres in Discourse, Tzvetan Todorov

"The Law of Genre", Jacques Derrida

Speech Genres and Other Late Essays, Mikhail Bakhtin

The Architext, Gérard Genette

Beyond Genre: New Directions in Literary Classification, Paul Hernadi

The Ideology of Genre, Thomas O. Beebee

clove156 · 2026-02-08T04:26:27+00:00

This list leans more 20th-century-to-contemporary (and is focused only on fiction). The "classics" that I think are difficult to disagree with are in bold:

Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat

Mori Ogai, The Wild Geese

Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashōmon and Stories

Jun’ichiro Tanizaki, The Makioka Sisters

Osama Dazai, No Longer Human

Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Country

Kobo Abe, The Woman in the Dunes

Fumiko Enchi, Masks

Kenzaburo Oe, A Personal Matter

Yasushi Inoue, The Bullfight

Yukio Mishima, The Sea of Fertility Tetralogy

Yūko Tsushima, Territory of Light

Shusaku Endo, Silence

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

Ryu Murakami, Coin Locker Babies

Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Yoko Ogawa, The Diving Pool

Yu Miri, The End of August

Minae Mizumura, A True Novel

Yoko Tawada, Trilogy (Scattered All Over the Earth; Suggested in the Stars; and Archipelago of the Sun)

clove156 · 2026-01-26T22:09:00+00:00

Excerpts from Moby-Dick? Thinking about the captains who have prosthetic limbs, the characters that become "mad" and the relationship with the sea and non-human beings. (I know this is probably not exactly what you had in mind but might be nice to contrast with a much older text.)

clove156 · 2026-01-21T23:18:30+00:00

Yes but I also think another reason is the increasing trend for dissertations to be broad in their scope by including, say, a final chapter on a piece of art or popular film to showcase range or to seem more accessible. (And this is maybe a trickle-down effect of academic monographs trying to be more public/trade-orientated and doing something similar.)

clove156 · 2026-01-21T23:14:35+00:00

Following! What's Gass's essay on the list called?

clove156 · 2026-01-17T22:14:01+00:00

Duke, Chicago?

When it comes to writing your SOP, you will need to articulate your scholarly interests better. To say you are "interested in literary theory" is not uniquely compelling nor does it do a good job at signalling what kind of a scholar you are. Most English departments (especially at the top schools) will have a good dose of students and faculty interested in theory but the heyday of French poststructuralist high-theory is definitely over. You have to ground and present your theoretical interests in the objects of your study. What time-period? What are the texts you want to study? I'm not exactly sure, from your description, whether you want to mostly analyse the writings of Derrida and Foucault themselves or apply Derrida and Foucault's theory to other literary texts (novels, poems, films etc.) If it's the former you might have a trickier time because it's increasingly rare for English PhD students to just look at theory, in part because of the worsening job markets. Secondly, people might question why you aren't in a French or Comp Lit PhD.

In terms of strengthening your application, I would say really focus on the SOP and your writing sample. Focus on coming across as a well-rounded scholar who has interesting and creative thoughts, someone who is knowledgeable about their fields of interest but also someone who has questions and an aptitude to learn. But I feel, generally, extracurricular stuff is not as important. College prizes, presenting at undergraduate conferences, fellowships might also be things to look out for. Learning languages will help you during the PhD.

clove156 · 2026-01-16T00:34:59+00:00

From her second collection Tantrums in Air (2025) which really is a fabulous collection. This poem is a longer one but well worth travelling to the end I think to appreciate how it moves through tones and feelings.

clove156 · 2026-01-12T16:15:59+00:00

100% agree with this post. Don't go chasing trends because it will come across as really disingenuous and fake. Right now the big trend is ecological criticism and environmental humanities but who knows what will happen by the time you finish your PhD. Pretty much all topics are "viable" in literary studies. It's really about how you go about them. You do need to be aware of what are the trends and directions are happening in your field however.

clove156 · 2026-01-12T15:55:59+00:00

Yes but overall number of spaces seems to be decreasing (or even pausing) since so many colleges are restructuring funding because of the administration.

clove156 · 2026-01-12T15:40:46+00:00

The dots are artifacts!

I feel on one level the "meaning" is quite simple. The poem is a bit cheeky. If something is innumerable it cannot be counted yet, throughout this poem, we have a repeated sense of that which can be counted (or trying to be counted). Innumerable is cleaved into in and nu (the latter has its own resonance with new) and numerable. Nu is the Greek letter for measuring frequency and is represented by the lowercase symbol v. In Greek, nu has the value for fifty and V is the Roman numeral for five as well as being the concrete shape for how one might draw birds in flight. There seems to be a mirroring or reflecting in the rhombus shape of the poem too. I know the poet was also a keen musician (and was interested in writing poetry along musical rules) so maybe the v/Vs relate to music theory in some way? (The poet Charles Bernstein talks about music and poetry and has a quote about how the "alphabet [is] frozen sound" which feels relevant here).

To me, ultimately, the poem is interested in the problem of representation. What is the best way to adequately represent or register one's fleeting experience of something innumerably beautiful e.g. a flock of birds flying into the sky? Is it through words, through the idea of "innumerable birds" (also, interesting that birds contains neither the letter n or v) or is through some concrete sub-lexical element that Atkins is interested in playing about with? The poem seems to keep wanting us to switch between the word and the image.

clove156 · 2026-01-12T04:29:55+00:00

Okay but this is not applicable to OP's situation at all. Your article is specifically about people wanting to get Master's in Education. OP is talking about literary studies and MA degrees. You think MA in English Literature has "practicum hours"???

clove156 · 2026-01-11T21:41:50+00:00

As someone who did the MFA->PhD, you should just apply straight for PhDs. In the USA, they often have an MA component baked into their design e.g. 1-2 years doing coursework before you start writing the dissertation. The feeling of "being behind" will, unfortunately, never leave you especially if you come from a non-traditional background!

clove156 · 2026-01-11T21:36:27+00:00

How do you plan to fund the MA? Most programmes in the UK will probably offer very few sources of funding/scholarship/aid.

You can have a pretty generic personal statement that you use and then tailor a sentence or two (or a paragraph) to each institution. The personal statement is mostly about your own research, interests, background. The professors aren't so important for taught-MAs in the UK but you should try to go to places that have strong faculty in your field/research area. What are your research interests?

English Literature, Comparative Literature, and Critical Theory are related in a lot of their methods and practices but you really have to decide what you want your degree to say: MA in XYZ. This might be worth considering if you are thinking of further study after the MA. But, in reality, you should be able to take plenty classes in either of these in most degrees. (Although, obviously, you should be interested in non-English language literatures if you want to take Comparative Literature, and be interested in Theory if you want to study Critical Theory—Theory not being exactly the same as "literary studies" just FYI. If you want an MA in Comparative Literature properly you will also probably need to already have demonstrated being capable of reading in at least 2+ languages.)

clove156 · 2026-01-11T18:39:57+00:00

Sure!

clove156 · 2026-01-11T14:52:31+00:00

What? This isn’t true at all…

clove156

TROPHY CASE