Today I've felt just about as sorry for myself as this Thomas Holm chap.
Jeg har jokket i en lort / samlet den op og bidt i den.
5.12.11
Thorn in my Side
It is done. I handed in the papers for postgraduate studies last Wednesday, so now I will just have to wait for a letter from the Faculty telling me whether my application was accepted or not.
My topic has changed quite a bit. I have given up on metaphors more or less, although there's still the possibility that I will keep them bubbling under for some rainy-day stroke of genius. Conceptual metaphors could probably make a nice case study if I ever have the urge to come back to them. A little side project never hurt anyone and it's good to keep your topic close and your options closer.
The focus of the study has shifted towards translation history. And, since I have shameless feelings of nostalgia towards anything to do with music, I will be looking at the history of Finnish translations of nonfiction music literature during the first half of the twentieth century. Who knows what I will discover! The field is still relatively uncharted (there will, for instance, be a book on translating nonfiction into Finnish next year, but it won't say much about music, I hear) so I have a chance to do some pioneering work, which is fantastic. My only worry is how will the topic foster my academic career, forward my international connections and help me become an acknowledged scholar.
These musing may seem silly but I feel they are essential questions for me. For the first time, I'm in a situation where I have no plan for my future and it's unnerving. The financial situation at the uni is beyond dreadful, so I'm not holding my breath in the hope of a vacancy, I don't really have enough contacts to successfully operate my translation business and I have no idea what else I'm really good for. Research grants are uncertain at best. It's all rather depressing.
My topic has changed quite a bit. I have given up on metaphors more or less, although there's still the possibility that I will keep them bubbling under for some rainy-day stroke of genius. Conceptual metaphors could probably make a nice case study if I ever have the urge to come back to them. A little side project never hurt anyone and it's good to keep your topic close and your options closer.
The focus of the study has shifted towards translation history. And, since I have shameless feelings of nostalgia towards anything to do with music, I will be looking at the history of Finnish translations of nonfiction music literature during the first half of the twentieth century. Who knows what I will discover! The field is still relatively uncharted (there will, for instance, be a book on translating nonfiction into Finnish next year, but it won't say much about music, I hear) so I have a chance to do some pioneering work, which is fantastic. My only worry is how will the topic foster my academic career, forward my international connections and help me become an acknowledged scholar.
These musing may seem silly but I feel they are essential questions for me. For the first time, I'm in a situation where I have no plan for my future and it's unnerving. The financial situation at the uni is beyond dreadful, so I'm not holding my breath in the hope of a vacancy, I don't really have enough contacts to successfully operate my translation business and I have no idea what else I'm really good for. Research grants are uncertain at best. It's all rather depressing.
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