A Day in the Life of a Literature PhD 

:D

I'll let you in on a secret. The topic of my research is the idea of escapism. It was a key concept in my MA thesis too. Two weeks ago my supervisor spent two minutes looking at his shoes, then he looked at me and went "look, Mattia, it's all fantastic. But it's not pronounced e'scapism. It's esca'pism." IT WAS A SAD MOMENT

lucian green Until I was about 13 I pronounced "fugitive" with a short "u," hard "g," and long "i," "fuggeetive". and I'm a born English speaker!

Literature is a beautiful thing and beautiful things deserve to be preserved, cultivated and studied. (Literature in particular, as an art form based entirely on language, never stops telling us things about ourself - since language is what we use for pretty much everything; also, there's the idea that Reading Is Good For You, as it puts you into contact with different points of view and teaches you the most important lesson of all: stuff is complicated. This is a little besides the point though). It is a rare splendid thing that in a messed-up world such as ours, most nations in the world still consider the preservation and study of beautiful things a legit pursuit. If you ask me, given you are motivated by a genuine passion, then spending a few years working as a curator of beautiful things is always a valid pursuit, whether you move on to do that for life, or whether all you'll ever have to show for it is a dissertation that ten people in the whole world will read. (Putting more importance on quantity over quality is a perversion of our culture). If you ask me it's as simple as that; you're not saving the world, but you're doing your part to preserve and extend the life of something beautiful. BUT I'm kind of an aesthete on such matters, and of course other people will tell you that the study of literature serves a political purpose. Ultimately, I think each of us has different answers to that question, but the fact that many of us study this stuff even though we don't have all those answers already says something about the fact that the stuff itself is worth studying. If you're interested in the topic, I highly recommend reading Umberto Eco's How to Write a Thesis. Besides handing out priceless practical advice, Eco talks extensively about the role of the university in today's world, and about why studying art is a good thing - in a very simple and balanced way and without advancing any claim to heroism.

Grazie mille! You have no idea what your words mean to me. I’ve always had a passion for words and the impact they have in the hearts of people. Where I come from, the preservation of this beauty is small, and I feel only handful of people can see its value. Explaining to my community why I’ve chosen this path has been frustrating, and at times, humiliating. Even my professors somewhat advised against this path. Still, I love what literature has done for me, and I want to pass it on to more hearts. As you mentioned, literature challenges our very selves, and it makes us less ignorant to the world, and the different people living in it. Thank you for your response, and I will definitely read Eco’s How to Write a Thesis. I wish for you all the best, and let us always strive in our endeavors to preserve and share the beauty of literature!

of course, I'd love to hear Mattia's ideas, but I personally [a lowly undergrad] have found a lot of success using what they call the Bullet Journal in a graph-paper notebook. But then again, my workload is light enough to keep it to a week per page, rather than on a per day basis. And what's great about the bullet journal is that it's infinitely customizable for your needs; just a matter of looking at other people's layouts to see what might work best for you :)

Thank you! I would definitely try that out. It's time to put a saddle on my wild chaotic reading routine.

Same. I might set up not so much a "schedule" as an inquiry to how many days a month I actually crack open a book, because I have a feeling it's a lot rarer than I think... which is sad. Really haven't been in the mood for it of late. Maybe when I'm back in classes come January I'll get my mojo back? hahaha, it's worth hoping, I guess.

It's nothing sensible or complicated really - I just note down the stuff I have to read before my next supervision, divided into categories ("primary sources", "intertextuality", "implied reader" etc), and I work at it a text at a time. I try to tackle one full category before moving to the next, rather than reading a bit here and a bit there, but that's as far as my organization goes. Also, I keep primary sources for last, but that's also because they are almost all re-readings. Good luck with your efforts man and do follow Vrixton's suggestions, he seems way more organized than me :D

Now I have! Lol :D

Will read it next year for sure man! I've heard great things about that book

Highly unlikely! I am not the biggest JSF fan out there and I've read his last book is quite gigantic :P

I think its just a reaction to the PhD. People usually never go for anything beyond grad (and many people undergrad) school so there's a lot of confusion as to what PhD students actually do. Do they get regular assignments like undergrads or is their stuff self paced? There's a lot more questions in better detail but thats something i used to wonder.

I'm really too busy these days for any Skype (I rarely even talk to my parents on there ^^) but I know how confusing the application process and all can be - just leave me a message on GoodReads or twitter or here and I'll reply as soon as I can ;)

I'm Italian! And good luck with your PhD!

I did! It was!

@@TheBookchemist Congratulations 🥳🎉🥳

Do you still wonder ?

I'm Italian!

Yes! I already know that, jaja, Thanks for your answer. I was watching almost all of your videos, very good channel! I thought that you were latinamerican, because your accent.

It's a question as old as time my friend! I think no one can really tell you what to do; you'll have to decide by yourself. A few considerations that may help: - It is true that jobs in academia are scarce; it's very difficult to become a literature professor in Europe, and I think the US are roughly the same. Me and my PhD friends know full well that it may not be possible for all of us to get a position, at least not anytime soon. This is not to discourage you - I do think that someone who's passionate about literature should pursue teaching as a career! - but it's good to know your odds. - If you do go to study abroad, look into scuring scholarships, which will help you vastly with your living expenses and paying your tuition fees. Also, while it makes sense for you to want to study in the UK or North America, consider the rest of Europe too - France, Germany and Italy have some astounding English Literature departments, as do many other European countries, and University (and the cost of living too) are so much cheaper in continental Europe than in the UK, let alone in the US. - Finally, would you like the idea of being a doctor? Because if you're going to study medicine you'll have to study hard for many years, and do lots of intern work before you move to a well-paid position. It's a very hard career path and I would only recommend it if you are really committed to it!

The_Bookchemist my high school grades are great, so my family thinks I should be a doctor BUT I'm scared that my performance in college will become low since I *expecting* my books to be boring as hell (I don't really care about human structure or what's the virus's name!) I love foreign literatures, they are very wonderful and entertaining! I like to teach people about literatures, other countries books and mythologies and I like to read as many as I can Since childhood till now, I would write long stories, read books (especially mythologies) It's my *passion* But I'm scared of being jobless after I graduate I'm scared of hearing 'I told you so' This year is a big step for me to choose my major but I don't know what to do!

Merdas it’s very obvious what you shouldn’t do. You can’t force yourself to do something you don’t like. It will never work out.

Yeah :)