Research question
'Which contemporary books will be considered classics in 50 years and which factors contribute to their literary significance?'
Task 1 : Motivation
' Which contemporary books will be considered classics in 50 years and which factors will contribute to their literary significance?'
Ever since I read my first classic, pride and prejudice by Jane Austen I've been wondering how some books withstand the test of time and become classics and some books are forgotten and never talked about again. Now whenever I read a book I wonder about the last time anyone is going to read it, is it going to be praised and remembered like the Bronte sister's works or be forgotten like a lot of other works written back then? The classics I have read all have a similar feel to them and I'm very interested to find out whether that is because they have received the stamp of 'being a classic' or because they have a similar sort of literary brilliance and which factors decide the books that will get the honour of being read for hundreds of years to come.
Task 2: Outline and self evaluation
OUTLINE
1 Introduction : disclaimer about subjectivity and the amount of books that my theory could be applied to.
2 Already existing classics.
a. How do we define a classic?
b. What are characteristics of classic books that are still significant now?
(Subjective to change)
° universal themes
° complexity
3 Books that will become classics
a. Introduction to part 2 : hypothesis, a lot of books could be chosen
b. casestudies
1 CASESTUDY 1 - Book that will become a classic
My policeman – Bethan Roberts / Alone with you in the ether –
Olivie Blake
/ A little life – Hanya
Yanagihara
° relatability
° complexity
°(cultural) influence
° Other significant factors?
2 CASESTUDY 2 – Book that won't become a classic – Fifty shades of grey, E.L. James
- compared to three weeks by Elinor Glyn , opposed to Lady Chatterley's lover by D.H. Lawrence
° Depth
° Character development
° Time period it was published
3 Conclusion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blake, O. (2023). Alone With You in the Ether. Tor Books.
Glyn, E. (2022). Three weeks. DigiCat.
James, E. L. (2016). Fifty Shades of Grey.
Lawrence, D. H. (2008). Lady Chatterley's lover.
Roberts, B. (2012). My policeman. Random House.
Yanagihara, H. (2016). A little life. Pan Macmillan.
SELF EVALUATION
1 Evaluate your own performance so far
- So far I have come up with good ideas fort his
project - Always
- Come to class prepared to work - Always
- Found appropriate materials for the project - Often (still doubting about which book
to choose)
2 How would you describe your progress in this
project?
I would say it's been slow but steady. I have been looking for the perfect
books to use as casestudies. For the second one I'm quite sure of my choice, my
problem is I'm still choosing which book to use for the first casestudy, I do
think I'll have to read my first choice before I make an actual decision,
because I can't really accurately predict if it's going to meet my
requirements.
3 What do you think your biggest strength is?
I think it's quite handy that I love to read and analyse books. I don't think
I'm bad at doing that either so that's quite the benefit. If I wouldn't be able
to do that, I'd have to find another research question, because my whole
project is basically analysing books and drawing conclusions from that and only
that, because there aren't loads of sources on this subject.
4 What do you think you should watch out for in this
project?
I should watch out with drawing conclusions to hastily. As I said before, there
aren't a lot of sources, because this is a quite subjective question, there's a
lot of guessing involved. There isn't a list of characteristics a book should
have to become a classic, of course there are requirements, but they aren't set
in stone, so I have to think of characteristics myself. I am , unfortunately,
not a fortune teller so I'll never know whether I'm completely right or not,
that can lead to some uncertainty on my part, but I just have to be confident
in my analysing abilities.
Abstract
This research examines the future of classic novels, shedding
light on what makes a classic a classic and how pieces of literature manage to withstand
the test of time.
My research focuses on the prediction of the future of classic literature.
To conduct this research, I searched for factors in books , such as sophisticated prose or well-drawn characters , that are important to have in a classic, I found these by reading and analysing already existing classics, I , for example, read Fahrenheit 451. Afterwards, I applied my findings to contemporary books to see if they fit some of the requirements. I also used Italo Calvino's essays on classic literature to find other characteristics to apply to the novels I read.
I tried to read novels from several genres, to broaden the scope of my research as far as possible. I read historical fiction , The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I did also read , Fifty shades of grey, which one wouldn't necessarily expect to become a classic, I wanted to find out whether that assumption is correct, seeing as a novel, such as Lady Chatterley's Lover, did become a classic, even though it's also classified as erotica.
My research calls for a more inclusive approach to recognizing literary greatness in the classical literature genre. While Fifty Shades of Grey might not achieve classic status, its inclusion in my research prompts a reevalutation of our traditional notions of what a 'classic' should entail.