Rob O’Connor – PhD Literature Studies, Faculty of Arts “I READ BOOKS AND THEN I WRITE ABOUT THEM” Research methodology in literature studies.

FOUR QUESTIONS – LITERATURE STUDIES RESEARCH Quantitative or Qualitative research? What role does the literature review play in my research? What form does methodology take in literature studies research? What are the methods that I use in literature studies research?

QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE? Quantitative research: -No generation of data -Little interest in causalities and direct correlations. -Nothing to count. Qualitative research: - Association with literary theory. - Freedom of interpretation.

LITERATURE REVIEW Important to all research projects: literature studies is no exception. Primary and Secondary literature. Makes a contribution to every stage of my methodology: - helps frame initial formation of research question. - provides a counterpoint or support for my research as it develops. “Brings clarity and focus to your research problem, improves your research methodology and broadens your knowledge base” (Kumar, 2014).

METHODOLOGY “The philosophy or the general principle which will guide your research. It is the overall approach to studying your topic and includes issues you need to think about such as the constraints, dilemmas and ethical choices within your research”(Dawson, 2009). THEORY READ PROCESS WRITE

METHODS OF RESEARCH IN LITERATURE STUDIES “Research methods are the tools you use to collect your data” (Dawson, 2009, 27) -What is ‘data’ in literature studies? Theory becomes method. Fairly limited use of familiar research methods. “Acts of reading” which interact and engage with one another critically.

READER RESPONSE THEORY

READER RESPONSE Reader as an ‘active agent’ upon a text. AUTHOR’S TEXT - ARTISTIC READER’S INTERPRETATION - AESTHETIC SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ETHICAL STIMULI SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ETHICAL STIMULI THE VIRTUAL TEXT

HISTORICISM Focuses upon the importance of historical context. “Texts, literary or otherwise, only have meaning within an economy of other texts, which both limits their possibilities and facilitates the distinctiveness of their utterances.” (Hamilton, 2001, 3) Historical context can provide information regarding the motivation of the author. Vital to establishing the artistic pole stimuli in reader response model.

MY METHODOLOGY IN PRACTICE: A CHAPTER OVERVIEW READER RESPONSE WHAT DO I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT? PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY WHICH OF MIEVILLE’S TEXTS WOULD BE INTERESTING TO DISCUSS? LONDON OVERTHROW THE CITY & THE CITY NOTE TAKING AND FORMULATION OF RESEARCH IDEAS CORE TEXT INITIAL READING: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL READING IN LIGHT OF THEORETICAL READING. CORE TEXT 2ND READING: PROCESS: ESTABLISHING ‘VIRTUAL’ INTERPRETATION OF CORE TEXTS WRITE READER RESPONSE HISTORICISM

REFERENCES Bradford, Richard (1996) Introducing Literary Studies, Hemel Hempstead, UK, Prentice Hall. Dawson, Catherine (2009) Introduction to Research Methods, Oxford, UK, How To Books. Eagleton, Terry (1996) Literary Theory: An Introduction, Oxford, UK, Blackwell Publishing. Flick, Uwe (2011) Introducing Research Methodology: A Beginners Guide to Doing a Research Project, London, UK, SAGE publications. Hamilton, Paul (2001) Historicism: The New Critical Idiom, London, UK, Routledge. Iser, Wolfgang (1978) The Act of Reading, London, UK, Routledge. Iser, Wolfgang (1980) “The Interaction Between Text and Reader”, in: Bennett, Andrew (ed.) (1995) Readers and Reading, Harlow, UK, Longman. Kumar, Ranjit (2014) Research Methodology: a Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners, London, UK, SAGE publications.