My research is not meaningful

[Deacon_blues]

I'm struggling with this issue as well.  I'm tenured and have been actively publishing in my subfield for eleven years now.  I've finally reached the point where I am the go-to person on my topic of choice, but despite this success I still have doubts about whether my research means anything in the grander scheme of things. Like the previous poster, I love to read, research, and write, so I'm not sure what else I would do. Moving to another topic does not interest me. Ultimately, I have to tell myself that *I* care about these topics and research questions, so I am really writing for myself than for others. If I can find meaning in what I do, then that should be enough.

[mamselle]

Don't know if it's useful overall, but this idea came through to me as suggesting a life cycle with a series of variations in it for writing.

My undergrad dance fundamentals class included a visit from a retired dance critic at one point.

He started out by saying, "When I began writing, I wrote for the dancers, to help them see what they couldn't see.

"After awhile, I realized most of the dancers weren't interested in reading about their own dances, they just wanted to make new ones.

"So then I wrote for the audiences, to help them see what they were looking at.

"Then I realized they wanted to see what they saw, not what I saw.

"So now, I write for myself."

M.

[Hibush]

How would you like to affect the grander scheme of things?

That question takes a lot of thought to answer, of course. But if you have a few concrete ideas of what would be rewarding, you could start tying that outcome to some aspect of the scholarship you are doing well now.

The connection could be made through unexpected vehicles. For instance, if you your grander scheme values a sounder society, being a Boy Scout leader teaches skills and values to future citizens (and college students). There are lots of approaches that probably are not on your radar.

[Antiphon1]

Are you still interested in the answers to the questions you are asking?  That's really the only criteria you should care about outside of publication requirements.  One of the very few things we can control is what we choose to think about.  Life is too short to bore yourself. 

[lilyb]

When I sometimes doubt the public value of my literary criticism, I think about how our discussions in my field do affect the novels and poetry taught in high school and college classrooms. When I was young, for instance, none of us read Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_.  But now we recognize all the ways in which it powerfully critiques masculine Romanticism, environmental arrogance, etc. I can think other texts that gain currency in a kind of trickle-down effect from scholarly conversations.

So, while my work on its own does not shape reading lists and syllabi, I'm contributing to a larger conversation that potentially has real effects on what students read, not to mention which texts become affordable paperbacks with notes and introductions.

[Deacon_blues]

"So now, I write for myself."

That's exactly the shift in perspective that I had to make--realizing that I was writing for myself, and not for others.  If external validation is not enough to make me feel as though my work is worthwhile, then it comes down to internal validation.  Do I care about the topics that I am researching?  Do I want to know the answers to the questions that I am posing?  If the subject matters to me, then that's enough.  Of course, I find myself repeating this over and over again, because the "research is meaningless" dragon refuses to be permanently slayed.

[downer]

Seems like out_of_the_office has also found that The Fora is not meaningful.

[Hibush]

Seems like out_of_the_office has also found that The Fora is not meaningful.

Most recent visit was not long after M. subsumed them to a different plane.

[zuzu_]

My first graduate degree focused on literary criticism, and I also lost interest in it.

I find much meaning in the teaching of literature and writing, especially as gen ed. No, most of students aren't going to be English majors, but after taking my classes they can engage in personal, informal criticism of all media they consume. They can better empathize with others. Learning basic literary criticism makes them more learned and reflective citizens.

I also started writing actual literature, which feels quite meaningful as a way to connect to others.

[mamselle]

Seems like out_of_the_office has also found that The Fora is not meaningful.

Most recent visit was not long after M. subsumed them to a different plane.

Actually, I was observing that they seemed to have subsumed themselves...

I hope I didn't kill the thread...

M.

[Hibush]

My first graduate degree focused on literary criticism, and I also lost interest in it.

I find much meaning in the teaching of literature and writing, especially as gen ed. No, most of students aren't going to be English majors, but after taking my classes they can engage in personal, informal criticism of all media they consume. They can better empathize with others. Learning basic literary criticism makes them more learned and reflective citizens.

I also started writing actual literature, which feels quite meaningful as a way to connect to others.

This is a great way to reassess personal goals and meaning, and to change what you do to match!

[M.: The thread seems to be alive still. Don't know about OP. You have a lot of karma points...]

[mamselle]

Ok, thanks.

Don't think I could could fill Them Fiona's shoes...

M.

P. S. As to meaningful research, I just act like mine is not useful by wasting time, etc. I really do believe in its significance.

I think.

M.

[larryc]

Well, it's not like most of us are curing cancer.

But if you are curing cancer please stop posting and get back to work.

[mamselle]

Actually, I did work at a couple places as an EA that were curing cancer, or working towards it.

They all underwent layoffs....

M.