Academical Glee/Horror
Otherwise entitled - Why Does Everything I Do These Days Have To Involve Religion and History?
So. I am composing the prospectus for my final history (high to late middle ages) research paper, and have stumbled simultaneously upon an idea I love and a huge roadblock.
What I am wanting to do is to compare the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with the hajj to Mecca, the idea being that the Islamic occupation of most of Spain, coupled with the prominent political role Compostela took in terms of religious and military propaganda for the Christian kings of Asturias-Leon, might yield some interesting observations re: the similarities and differences in the two pilgrimages.
The issue: my prof, though admitting that Spain is not his area of expertise, does not think that there has been much if anything done with this sort of comparison. So that's an issue. There's another teacher who specializes in Spain who I can talk to, and I'm of course going to bury myself in books. But if no one has ever compiled sources about this matter, then I'm stuck, which would be so sad. (There is also the issue of the fact that I don't have any Arabic, but that's a whole different matter)
I want this paper so badly. The only other time I've been so excited about an essay was when I wrote about triangle-symbolism in Atonement. This is like...socio-religious history, with Spanish and comparative religions and freaking awesome myths about St James, and I really really want it to work. Because falling back onto Plan B, a study of the pilgrimage accounts for Compostela to look at the militant side of it, pales in comparison to how much I want this essay.
So. I am composing the prospectus for my final history (high to late middle ages) research paper, and have stumbled simultaneously upon an idea I love and a huge roadblock.
What I am wanting to do is to compare the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with the hajj to Mecca, the idea being that the Islamic occupation of most of Spain, coupled with the prominent political role Compostela took in terms of religious and military propaganda for the Christian kings of Asturias-Leon, might yield some interesting observations re: the similarities and differences in the two pilgrimages.
The issue: my prof, though admitting that Spain is not his area of expertise, does not think that there has been much if anything done with this sort of comparison. So that's an issue. There's another teacher who specializes in Spain who I can talk to, and I'm of course going to bury myself in books. But if no one has ever compiled sources about this matter, then I'm stuck, which would be so sad. (There is also the issue of the fact that I don't have any Arabic, but that's a whole different matter)
I want this paper so badly. The only other time I've been so excited about an essay was when I wrote about triangle-symbolism in Atonement. This is like...socio-religious history, with Spanish and comparative religions and freaking awesome myths about St James, and I really really want it to work. Because falling back onto Plan B, a study of the pilgrimage accounts for Compostela to look at the militant side of it, pales in comparison to how much I want this essay.