Today I’m on campus getting signatures for my Dissertation Prospectus. For those not familiar with the inner bowels of the academic institution, a prospectus is a short document (mine is about 10 pages) that presents your idea and planned chapters for a dissertation. It’s kind of weird that I’m this close to the end of my degree, and yet I feel that it is still so far away. That said I’m excited that all my professors seem to like my idea, and are on board with my proposed topic.
For those curious as to what I’m writing on, here’s a summary:
Wordsworth, British Romanticism, and Theories of Secularization.
For those of you who want a little more:
Basically for the past two hundred years we have operated as a Western society under a certain accepted idea of secularization. Following the Enlightenment and the rise of science there was a general belief held by many that religion was on the decline, was no longer necessary, and was therefore losing its position of power in the West. It’s a teleological argument with a clear beginning (the Enlightenment or Reformation or Renaissance), and it has a clear end (some point in the future in which religion finally dies.) This argument lends itself to finding markers that fit along the path toward religion’s death. So things like Darwin, Freud, Hitler (basically insert whatever) can be seen to fit into this slow march of history. Literary movements like Romanticism would fit in here as well. (M. H. Abrams makes a pretty compelling argument that demonstrates this.)
However, there is a new movement afoot in various academic disciplines that challenges this narrative of secularization. Philosophers, literary critics, and historians of ideas are beginning to point out that the narrative doesn’t seem so compelling anymore. It just doesn’t explain the modern world. Surely religion has changed in some degrees in regards to its position in society or culture, but yet it doesn’t seem to be dying. Therefore, new models of secularization are emerging.
My argument is that if the models of secularization change, then so to should our readings of various points along the path such as Romanticism. Or to say it in another way, if what we believe about secularization changes, then perhaps we should reconsider what we thought we knew about previous points along the path toward secularization. If the foundation for the timeline shifts, so to must our understanding of the specific markers.
So that’s what I’m up to. (I hope this made sense I typed it in the 15 minutes I had between meetings.)