More on Single-Author Diss

**Yay for this blog** It's already been so great to get help and feedback from you two, and also not to feel so at sea and alone out here in tech-land. Great idea, GEW. I'm also looking forward to all the great advice you'll give me in the future on handling revisions--my biggest dissertation fear. (Okay, maybe not finishing is my biggest fear. Or maybe it's finishing but not passing.)

I've been thinking a lot this morning about the single-author vs. multiple-author dissertation strategy, mostly because I will have to make the choice at some point. At my uni, most folks do multi-author work: one diss. covered 4 contemporary american novels by different authors; one did a number of medieval romances; one handled bunches of Ren. authors whose work focused on philosophy of science; etc. However, by far the most celebrated dissertation, in my time there, with the most celebrated job offer to follow was a single-author diss. on J.M. Cotzee. I think one has to weigh one's interests and strengths against the common thoughts about the job market. And one's goals can make word-on-the-street about the job market irrelevant. (I also think single-author dissertations are much more common in the UK than here now, though they used to be the norm here, too, I believe.)

I like the idea of a single-author focus because it allows for more depth and perhaps a more focused question. When other authors enter into the work, they become an integral part of the point you're making about your author, rather than becoming the focus of a major part of the argument themselves. It seems like it might be more difficult to structure an argument around three or four separate authors. Let me restate: it seems like it might be more difficult to structure a unified argument around multiple authors. However, the multiple author track does allow one to gather a breadth of knowledge, as GEW points out, and to claim the ability to teach a number of different authors at an “expert” level. It also makes sense if you’re interested in a particular genre (say Renaissance city comedies) or recurring image/theme/character (say, representations of Muslims in Ren. lit).

I feel very lucky that my advisor is one to encourage students to play to their strengths. At one point, he suggested I pursue a structure organized by theme rather than by author, if it suits me better. So I do feel like I have a lot of flexibility.

My next step toward deciding between single and multiple is to read me some Sidney. If my other two authors are Spenser and Shakespeare, Sidney makes an obvious third. Then I’ve got some nice alliteration in my diss title, and I’m dealing with three different genres as well as three different authors. I’ve ordered Sidney’s Arcadia so I can give it a go, but I am still wary of venturing into multiple-author territory, fearing I may be simply overwhelmed by it all. But I just have to keep reminding myself it’s one page at a time, however big the project.