So, just like the title of this blog says, this is my thesis log. A thlog, if you will.
I got this idea of creating a blog for my thesis writing process after reading a guidebook on how to write a thesis, nay, a successful thesis. The book’s title literally has the word “successful” in it so I trust it. Plus, I always wanted somewhere to gather all the things I’ve learned so far, important information to remember, theories and ideas that I’m throwing around and just a place I can track my progress or lack thereof. I also would like to have this place where I can put it in words about my confusion, anxieties and just worries that are related to this entire process because it is a process and treating it as part and parcel of getting my thesis done is important.
I’m not sure if I’m writing this for myself, or a specific audience, or even just the wide anonymous public. There are also a few legalities that I’m concerned with about putting parts of my thesis online. However, I’ll figure that out once I get there. But this thlog is mainly for myself so I won’t be offering long explanations about certain points or even bother to sound coherent at some posts because I’m sure it will make sense to me. So, if you’re interested in the topic, stick around. But please don’t expect a blow-by-blow backstory or infodump. I don’t think I have the time for it.
The Bare Bones of My Thesis (Everything is Tentative)
Field: African American Literature
Texts: Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Theoretical frameworks: Black feminism and new historicism
Scholars in focus: Michele Wallace, Barbara Christian, Toni Morrison, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Angela Davis (tentative), Michael Foucault (tentative), etc. (NTS: need more new historicism scholars)
Thesis statement: Enslaved African American women’s resistance against slavery is not only sidelined and largely ignored to cater to a more male-dominant narrative, but most forms of women’s resistance go against the ideal expectations of womanhood and motherhood. In showing a woman’s resistance against slavery, the interpretations regarding the portrayal of Morrison’s Sethe and Jacobs’s own accounts tends to be wrapped in prejudice that is an amalgam of racism and sexism that denies these women the recognition they deserve in achieving liberty not only for herself but their own kin. Furthermore, the 1970’s-80’s discourse within African American Literature and black identity largely influences the conversation surrounding these two texts. However, with newfound historical studies found regarding institutional slavery and enslaved people, I believe I can provide an alternative and more empowering interpretation of the characters Sethe and Linda Brent. This thesis aims to explore the gendered form of resistance presented in the chosen texts, unravel the prejudice surrounding the study of these texts and determine a subversive interpretation in sacrifices of motherhood during slavery.
Word count: 2205 words. (womp womp womp)
My Thesis Log 