My Thesis is Almost Done
The first draft, anyway. I spent 6 hours just typing typing typing today. My right palm muscle feels bruised. Think what you want, but I think that's some pretty intense typing. I've never worn out my palms typing before.My husband got a new computer game so I was free to concentrate solely on the thesis without feeling like I should be talking to him more. Because of the 6 hours and intense focus I finally have a clear direction. For the past month and a half I've been writing the practicums for the thesis class and none of them have given me any direction because, really, what does Freud know about Aztecs and their cosmology? There are certain aspects of Aztec and Mayan life that Freud could apply to (like the genital bloodletting to re-birth the gods--ouch) but that's still not as mentally twisted as Freud tends to be. Most of the time I was able to manipulate the topics so that I could write a somewhat coherent short paper, but a couple of them just completely threw me for a loop. Feminism and the Aztec culture in general? Sure, in a round-about way. Feminism and the Aztec Calendar Stone in particular? Not really. The binary opposition was the easiest paper, but I'm getting sidetracked. None of them helped me with the direction of my thesis, which was their intended purpose and that is why the thesis class was changed last year to include practicums into the curriculum. (I personally think that was a mistake because modern day theories often do not lend themselves to ancient or non-western art for the most part--there are exceptions, but for the most part, no.) But after reading reading reading books and articles and journals and microfilms of codices I finally have direction just in the nick of time. I'm very relieved. I can have this first draft done by Thursday so I have time to get feedback from my adviser before the theses are even due for peer review.
It's all about the purpose of the stone. It was for sacrifices to the sun. So my paper is all about the reason for the sacrifices, how they were done, and the iconography on the stone reinforcing the use and meaning of the stone. To be honest, the more I read the more morbid I think it is, but I see how it was absolutely necessary to their religion so I'm completely fine with the turn that my thesis has taken. It's incredibly interesting to me and I'm not even worried about the symposium when I'll have to present the paper (not yet, at least...). I just need to get down the pronunciations (hey, I spelled it in English! I'm constantly spelling that word in French lately). Huitzilopochtli, Nanahuatzin, Coyolxauhqui and Centohuitznahua are not words common to my vocabulary but are also words that I really would like to avoid tripping over during the presentation. I'd like to appear that I know this topic backwards and forwards.
posted by Sara @ 12:11 AM
