Research interest too vague/problematic? (English lit)
I am applying for an English PhD this year and gosh, am I happy to have discovered englishobsessed and applyingtograd!
I just wish I would have stumbled upon these communities sooner in my application process...I actually posted a similar post in englishobsessed but then got worried that it may be relatively dormant and posted here as well. So apologies if this is your second time reading this.
I live in Israel and took my BA in a department that is generally conservative. Comprehensive period-based survey courses, not very heavy on theory. My interest is in Romantic intellectual history, and particularly how Romanticism (esp. Coleridge's poetics) influenced prose of the long nineteenth century. My research till now has mainly focused on how novels become the stage for a struggle between Classical and Romantic tendencies, and how plots become representations of this struggle (and how this responds to Coleridge's ideas of the poetic genius that must reconcile oppositions).
My questions are:
1. How "done" is this topic? From the confines of my small department with its lack of funds it is sometimes difficult to tell how fresh your research is. Especially as none of my professors are Romanticists.
2. I realize that my interests blur periods a little between Romanticism and Victorian studies. Will this be problematic? Should I reference this in my SoP?
3. I have noticed that "hot" topics these days center more around theory, particularly post-colonial or gender studies. Will my weakness in theory be problematic? I am very interested in intellectual history and German Romantic philosophy, but admittedly haven't researched them much as of yet.
I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have!
I just wish I would have stumbled upon these communities sooner in my application process...I actually posted a similar post in englishobsessed but then got worried that it may be relatively dormant and posted here as well. So apologies if this is your second time reading this.
I live in Israel and took my BA in a department that is generally conservative. Comprehensive period-based survey courses, not very heavy on theory. My interest is in Romantic intellectual history, and particularly how Romanticism (esp. Coleridge's poetics) influenced prose of the long nineteenth century. My research till now has mainly focused on how novels become the stage for a struggle between Classical and Romantic tendencies, and how plots become representations of this struggle (and how this responds to Coleridge's ideas of the poetic genius that must reconcile oppositions).
My questions are:
1. How "done" is this topic? From the confines of my small department with its lack of funds it is sometimes difficult to tell how fresh your research is. Especially as none of my professors are Romanticists.
2. I realize that my interests blur periods a little between Romanticism and Victorian studies. Will this be problematic? Should I reference this in my SoP?
3. I have noticed that "hot" topics these days center more around theory, particularly post-colonial or gender studies. Will my weakness in theory be problematic? I am very interested in intellectual history and German Romantic philosophy, but admittedly haven't researched them much as of yet.
I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have!