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How to Write a Thesis
By the time Umberto Eco published his best-selling novel "The Name of the Rose," he was one of Italy's most celebrated intellectuals, a distinguished academic and the author of influential works on semiotics. Some years before that, in 1977, Eco published a little book for his students, "How to Write a Thesis," in which he offered useful advice on all the steps involved in researching and writing a thesis -- from choosing a topic to organizing a work schedule to writing the final draft. Now in its twenty-third edition in Italy and translated into seventeen languages, "How to Write a Thesis "has become a classic. Remarkably, this is its first, long overdue publication in English.
Eco's approach is anything but dry and academic. He not only offers practical advice but also considers larger questions about the value of the thesis-writing exercise. "How to Write a Thesis" is unlike any other writing manual. It reads like a novel. It is opinionated. It is frequently irreverent, sometimes polemical, and often hilarious. Eco advises students how to avoid "thesis neurosis" and he answers the important question "Must You Read Books?" He reminds students "You are not Proust" and "Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft." Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco's index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data.
"How to Write a Thesis" belongs on the bookshelves of students, teachers, writers, and Eco fans everywhere. Already a classic, it would fit nicely between two other classics: "Strunk and White" and "The Name of the Rose."
This MIT Press edition will be available in three different cover colors.
Contents
The Definition and Purpose of a Thesis
Choosing the Topic
Conducting Research
The Work Plan and the Index Cards
Writing the Thesis
The Final Draft
Eco's approach is anything but dry and academic. He not only offers practical advice but also considers larger questions about the value of the thesis-writing exercise. "How to Write a Thesis" is unlike any other writing manual. It reads like a novel. It is opinionated. It is frequently irreverent, sometimes polemical, and often hilarious. Eco advises students how to avoid "thesis neurosis" and he answers the important question "Must You Read Books?" He reminds students "You are not Proust" and "Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft." Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco's index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data.
"How to Write a Thesis" belongs on the bookshelves of students, teachers, writers, and Eco fans everywhere. Already a classic, it would fit nicely between two other classics: "Strunk and White" and "The Name of the Rose."
This MIT Press edition will be available in three different cover colors.
Contents
The Definition and Purpose of a Thesis
Choosing the Topic
Conducting Research
The Work Plan and the Index Cards
Writing the Thesis
The Final Draft
229 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Umberto Eco
833 books11.1k followersUmberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes.
Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine L'Espresso beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has continued to gain recognition for his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism", where Eco lists fourteen general properties he believes comprise fascist ideologies.
Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine L'Espresso beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has continued to gain recognition for his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism", where Eco lists fourteen general properties he believes comprise fascist ideologies.
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May 14, 2023
Umberto Eco a scris (cel puțin) două cărți (non-fiction) cărora le-aș da (le-am dat deja) cel puțin ****+. Una este Șase plimbări prin pădurea narativă, a doua este cea de față. De ce? Simplu, pentru că mi-au fost de un imens folos.
Și eu am trecut prin „nevroza tezei”. Eram înscris la doctorat de 5 ani, dar încă nu-mi redactasem lucrarea. Nu mai puteam dormi noaptea, mă credeam un neisprăvit, mă bătea gîndul să-mi schimb meseria și să mă fac cerșetor (fără speranța de a deveni Prinț). Mă uitam în jur cu invidie. Toți erau doctori în ceva (prea mulți în Filosofie!), numai eu, nu. Din „nevroză” m-a scos „manualul” lui Eco.
Mi-am redactat teza în mai puțin de o lună (8 august - 31 august inclusiv). 8 august a căzut în anul acela într-o sîmbătă. Pe la ora 20, am ieșit la plimbare. Nu vă puteți închipui cît de fericit eram... De citit, citisem 5 ani, mi-era de ajuns. Mă apucasem, în fine, de scris.
Ce-am învățat din cartea lui Eco? Iată cîteva sfaturi neprețuite:
1. Începeți neapărat cu introducerea și cuprinsul (planul) lucrării, chiar dacă le veți modifica ulterior. Nu e un paradox. Dacă ai gîndit cu adevărat o carte, dacă știi ce vrei, introducerea e floare la ureche. Al doilea pas e să scrieți concluziile.
2. O bibliografie de 10.000 de cărți nu este o bibliografie, ci o iluzie. Nu folosește la nimic, nu poți străbate atîtea cărți în 3 ani. Dacă aveți de făcut o teză de licență de 60 de pagini, 40 de titluri (cărți și articole) la bibliografie sînt de ajuns. Pentru o teză de doctorat, puteți citi și cita cam 150-200.
3. Nu adunați cu nemiluita fotocopii (articole în PDF din „bazele de date” & ebook-uri). Faptul că le dețineți într-un stick încăpător vă poate da impresia că le-ați citit deja. Dar „am cartea” nu înseamnă cîtuși de puțin „știu ce spune”.
4. Nu-i ignorați, totuși, pe autorii „minori”. Fiți umili (citiți povestea cu venerabilul abate Vallet!)...
5. Construiți propoziții scurte. În frazele întortocheate e greu să găsiți acordul dintre subiect și predicat.
6. Cînd folosiți un nume propriu, urmați sfatul lui Eco și scrieți cam așa (chiar dacă poate să vi se pară straniu):
„Joyce renunţase la familie, la patrie şi la Biserică. Şi-a păstrat credinţa pentru sine. Fireşte, nu se poate totuşi spune că Joyce ar fi un scriitor „angajat”, chiar dacă cineva a vorbit despre un Joyce fabian şi „socialist”. Cînd izbucneşte cel de-al doilea război mondial, Joyce e tentat să ignore deliberat drama care cuprinde Europa. Joyce era preocupat numai de redactarea romanului Veghea lui Finnegan ”.
7. Citiți neapărat secțiunea „V.3.2. Citat, parafrază şi plagiat” din cartea de față... Știu, a parafraza cere timp, trebuie mai întîi să pricepi ideea cutărui autor (sper să nu fie Hegel) și apoi s-o expui în cuvintele tale. E mai ușor să transcrii din carte (fără notă de subsol și fără ghilimele). Dar e imoral.
8. Nu se pot face teze despre autori (prozatori, poeți, filosofi etc.) pe care nu-i puteți citi în original.
9. Nu se pot face teze despre Orice și despre Tot. Subiectul trebuie să rămînă restrîns. Nu vă îndoiți nici o secundă de faptul că A Short History of Nearly Everything este un titlu ironic...
Come si fa una lesi di laurea s-a tipărit în 1977. Multe s-au schimbat între timp: nu mai scriem de mînă, nu mai lucrăm cu fișe de hîrtie, nu mai citim cărți „normale”, nu mai trebuie să stăm în sala de lectură a BCU constrînși de un program drastic, putem lucra de acasă și mult, mult mai repede decît în 1977. O bibliografie uriașă (din care putem alege după voie și plac) ne stă la îndemînă. În toate celelalte privințe, sfaturile lui Umberto Eco sînt de aur...
P. S. Să nu uit, în tezele Dvs. nu scrieți ca mine cu î din i și cu sînt. Urmați normele Academiei, chiar dacă sînt ilogice.
Și eu am trecut prin „nevroza tezei”. Eram înscris la doctorat de 5 ani, dar încă nu-mi redactasem lucrarea. Nu mai puteam dormi noaptea, mă credeam un neisprăvit, mă bătea gîndul să-mi schimb meseria și să mă fac cerșetor (fără speranța de a deveni Prinț). Mă uitam în jur cu invidie. Toți erau doctori în ceva (prea mulți în Filosofie!), numai eu, nu. Din „nevroză” m-a scos „manualul” lui Eco.
Mi-am redactat teza în mai puțin de o lună (8 august - 31 august inclusiv). 8 august a căzut în anul acela într-o sîmbătă. Pe la ora 20, am ieșit la plimbare. Nu vă puteți închipui cît de fericit eram... De citit, citisem 5 ani, mi-era de ajuns. Mă apucasem, în fine, de scris.
Ce-am învățat din cartea lui Eco? Iată cîteva sfaturi neprețuite:
1. Începeți neapărat cu introducerea și cuprinsul (planul) lucrării, chiar dacă le veți modifica ulterior. Nu e un paradox. Dacă ai gîndit cu adevărat o carte, dacă știi ce vrei, introducerea e floare la ureche. Al doilea pas e să scrieți concluziile.
2. O bibliografie de 10.000 de cărți nu este o bibliografie, ci o iluzie. Nu folosește la nimic, nu poți străbate atîtea cărți în 3 ani. Dacă aveți de făcut o teză de licență de 60 de pagini, 40 de titluri (cărți și articole) la bibliografie sînt de ajuns. Pentru o teză de doctorat, puteți citi și cita cam 150-200.
3. Nu adunați cu nemiluita fotocopii (articole în PDF din „bazele de date” & ebook-uri). Faptul că le dețineți într-un stick încăpător vă poate da impresia că le-ați citit deja. Dar „am cartea” nu înseamnă cîtuși de puțin „știu ce spune”.
4. Nu-i ignorați, totuși, pe autorii „minori”. Fiți umili (citiți povestea cu venerabilul abate Vallet!)...
5. Construiți propoziții scurte. În frazele întortocheate e greu să găsiți acordul dintre subiect și predicat.
6. Cînd folosiți un nume propriu, urmați sfatul lui Eco și scrieți cam așa (chiar dacă poate să vi se pară straniu):
„Joyce renunţase la familie, la patrie şi la Biserică. Şi-a păstrat credinţa pentru sine. Fireşte, nu se poate totuşi spune că Joyce ar fi un scriitor „angajat”, chiar dacă cineva a vorbit despre un Joyce fabian şi „socialist”. Cînd izbucneşte cel de-al doilea război mondial, Joyce e tentat să ignore deliberat drama care cuprinde Europa. Joyce era preocupat numai de redactarea romanului Veghea lui Finnegan ”.
7. Citiți neapărat secțiunea „V.3.2. Citat, parafrază şi plagiat” din cartea de față... Știu, a parafraza cere timp, trebuie mai întîi să pricepi ideea cutărui autor (sper să nu fie Hegel) și apoi s-o expui în cuvintele tale. E mai ușor să transcrii din carte (fără notă de subsol și fără ghilimele). Dar e imoral.
8. Nu se pot face teze despre autori (prozatori, poeți, filosofi etc.) pe care nu-i puteți citi în original.
9. Nu se pot face teze despre Orice și despre Tot. Subiectul trebuie să rămînă restrîns. Nu vă îndoiți nici o secundă de faptul că A Short History of Nearly Everything este un titlu ironic...
Come si fa una lesi di laurea s-a tipărit în 1977. Multe s-au schimbat între timp: nu mai scriem de mînă, nu mai lucrăm cu fișe de hîrtie, nu mai citim cărți „normale”, nu mai trebuie să stăm în sala de lectură a BCU constrînși de un program drastic, putem lucra de acasă și mult, mult mai repede decît în 1977. O bibliografie uriașă (din care putem alege după voie și plac) ne stă la îndemînă. În toate celelalte privințe, sfaturile lui Umberto Eco sînt de aur...
P. S. Să nu uit, în tezele Dvs. nu scrieți ca mine cu î din i și cu sînt. Urmați normele Academiei, chiar dacă sînt ilogice.
April 30, 2015
Additional tip: Instead of spending valuable time reading a book on how to write your thesis, actually write it.
March 11, 2016
This one's going on my shelf next to Steven King's On Writing as one of the best guides to putting together a long-form piece of written work I know of. It's cogent, it's comprehensive, and for a book aimed at new graduates, it's appropriately scary.
I want to say that I'd recommend it to anyone intending to write a thesis, but I recently lent this to a friend who's about to embark on his PhD (and who, incidentally, is one of the most vigorous scholars I've ever met). After a couple of months, he handed it back, having only got forty or so pages in. "To tell you the truth, it's a bit intimidating," he said.
More than anything else, that makes me distrust my own judgement: I read this because I'm thinking of putting together some long-form non-fiction in the near-ish future, and I wanted to find out how the big kids organise their bibliographies. It looks involved to me, but it doesn't look intimidating. It looks like you need several hundred index cards and a robust attitude towards befriending librarians, but it doesn't look particularly scary. So maybe this is the Dunning-Kruger effect in action. Lucky me.
Another option is that I've done a bit too much proofreading of theses to be scared by devastatingly long bibliographies, or by the fact that Eco seems to use as his examples everything from Darwin to Piaget to Joyce: he really does want to write about all theses, not just ones in Italian art history. And what he loves about scholarship is what I do, too, which is to say, finding those little nuggets of insight and connection in places you never thought to look, and then putting them all in one place, and then excitedly explaining them to whoever's nearby and looking vaguely interested. I love his notes on style ("You are not Proust... You are not e.e. cummings"), on academic humility ("I had found the key, provided by [a particular writer], who had died a hundred years before, who was long since forgotten, and yet who still had something to teach to someone willing to listen"), on being able to feel that you can add something to the sum total of human knowledge.
The sense I get from it all is that Eco is so delighted by new scholars, by anyone willing to put that effort in. I feel like he loves that feeling of going down the academic rabbit hole, mucking about and having opinions - and he approves of anyone else who wants to do it too. He wants to know what they have to say. If they put the time in, and the imaginative and intellectual legwork in, he wants to help them do the very best they can. To me it felt less intimidating and more like a pep talk.
I think I like this a lot more than his fiction, surprisingly. So I might look up some more of his non-fiction and see if it's as engaging.
What a sad loss Professor Eco is to the world - but he's done alright by us, he really has, and I don't suppose there's much better one can say about a person.
(P.S. The translators - or I can only assume it's the translators - don't know the difference between irony and sarcasm. Irony is when a fire station burns down. Sarcasm is when the fireman responds with, "Oh, well that's just fantastic.")
I want to say that I'd recommend it to anyone intending to write a thesis, but I recently lent this to a friend who's about to embark on his PhD (and who, incidentally, is one of the most vigorous scholars I've ever met). After a couple of months, he handed it back, having only got forty or so pages in. "To tell you the truth, it's a bit intimidating," he said.
More than anything else, that makes me distrust my own judgement: I read this because I'm thinking of putting together some long-form non-fiction in the near-ish future, and I wanted to find out how the big kids organise their bibliographies. It looks involved to me, but it doesn't look intimidating. It looks like you need several hundred index cards and a robust attitude towards befriending librarians, but it doesn't look particularly scary. So maybe this is the Dunning-Kruger effect in action. Lucky me.
Another option is that I've done a bit too much proofreading of theses to be scared by devastatingly long bibliographies, or by the fact that Eco seems to use as his examples everything from Darwin to Piaget to Joyce: he really does want to write about all theses, not just ones in Italian art history. And what he loves about scholarship is what I do, too, which is to say, finding those little nuggets of insight and connection in places you never thought to look, and then putting them all in one place, and then excitedly explaining them to whoever's nearby and looking vaguely interested. I love his notes on style ("You are not Proust... You are not e.e. cummings"), on academic humility ("I had found the key, provided by [a particular writer], who had died a hundred years before, who was long since forgotten, and yet who still had something to teach to someone willing to listen"), on being able to feel that you can add something to the sum total of human knowledge.
The sense I get from it all is that Eco is so delighted by new scholars, by anyone willing to put that effort in. I feel like he loves that feeling of going down the academic rabbit hole, mucking about and having opinions - and he approves of anyone else who wants to do it too. He wants to know what they have to say. If they put the time in, and the imaginative and intellectual legwork in, he wants to help them do the very best they can. To me it felt less intimidating and more like a pep talk.
I think I like this a lot more than his fiction, surprisingly. So I might look up some more of his non-fiction and see if it's as engaging.
What a sad loss Professor Eco is to the world - but he's done alright by us, he really has, and I don't suppose there's much better one can say about a person.
(P.S. The translators - or I can only assume it's the translators - don't know the difference between irony and sarcasm. Irony is when a fire station burns down. Sarcasm is when the fireman responds with, "Oh, well that's just fantastic.")
September 5, 2017
God Umberto Eco is such a d i c k ---
--- and I don't want to give him any more attention than I already have, so I'll keep this short.
In the introduction, Francesco Erspamer tries to justify including 60+ pages of outdated library information in a 2015 edition. Things made redundant by the internet, like "be sure you are close to many libraries so you can find many books"; things made redundant by computers, like "index cards make it so you can put your sources in alphabetical order as you go"; and things made redundant by like MLA and every other citation style like "here is my singular way of citing sources." He tries to justify it. He does not succeed. Maybe I'm too much of a millennial, but listen: I only read paper books. I prefer paper libraries. And even I can't think of a single reason why the fuck I would tote a box of a thousand index cards around with me. Are you kidding.
The rest of the book is riddled with exceptionally classist bullshit -- direct quote: "Like I guess you could write a thesis if you had to work through graduate school and didn't have enough money to travel all over the world and only spoke two languages...but why bother, you fucking peasant?" Education has changed so much since the '60s, and thank god.
In short: I have to write a thesis this year; having finished this book, I have absolutely no better idea of how to go about it. I am, however, very grateful for computers.
--- and I don't want to give him any more attention than I already have, so I'll keep this short.
In the introduction, Francesco Erspamer tries to justify including 60+ pages of outdated library information in a 2015 edition. Things made redundant by the internet, like "be sure you are close to many libraries so you can find many books"; things made redundant by computers, like "index cards make it so you can put your sources in alphabetical order as you go"; and things made redundant by like MLA and every other citation style like "here is my singular way of citing sources." He tries to justify it. He does not succeed. Maybe I'm too much of a millennial, but listen: I only read paper books. I prefer paper libraries. And even I can't think of a single reason why the fuck I would tote a box of a thousand index cards around with me. Are you kidding.
The rest of the book is riddled with exceptionally classist bullshit -- direct quote: "Like I guess you could write a thesis if you had to work through graduate school and didn't have enough money to travel all over the world and only spoke two languages...but why bother, you fucking peasant?" Education has changed so much since the '60s, and thank god.
In short: I have to write a thesis this year; having finished this book, I have absolutely no better idea of how to go about it. I am, however, very grateful for computers.
April 22, 2024
The book "How to Make a Thesis" is a work by Umberto Eco, a teacher/researcher who seeks to extract, from the technical textual composition, the characteristics of a technical text after checking the difficulties of his students' essays in the classroom, or to nurture the cunning of his investigative capacity, from there came his suggestions that spring from his daily life as a teacher. It represents a researcher's experience, practically translated into the didactic formulas of a professional and educator like Umberto Eco.
In the academic environment, the need to know how to prove a thesis imposes; for this reason, the author developed this work, telling us about this whole process through his experience, "the norms of a system where the thesis is a legal imposition does not allow to the author to underestimate the ridicule of a situation, characteristic of the "mass university," which turns the student into a researcher out of obligation to ascend professionally; to them the irony of "illegal advice": the thesis ordered or, the most practical formula, the copy of a thesis made elsewhere, and that has not yet been published. This risk surrounds the Italian system's thesis at the end of the degree and as a mandatory stage for anyone who intends to enter professional life. This is the characteristic of the "mass university" that is opposed to the "elite university," surpassed, made for the few, economically privileged and culturally elected by the omniscience of a "tutor" teacher who was concerned with the formation of the geniuses of the future. Destined to be geniuses, they should necessarily be few, just like the rest, destined to occupy any professional position in a provincial environment, could be many and hurried. These are the characteristics of the degree thesis: a legal imposition designed to create that pretentious final difficulty in selecting future professionals: the mass university and its social duties".
In the academic environment, the need to know how to prove a thesis imposes; for this reason, the author developed this work, telling us about this whole process through his experience, "the norms of a system where the thesis is a legal imposition does not allow to the author to underestimate the ridicule of a situation, characteristic of the "mass university," which turns the student into a researcher out of obligation to ascend professionally; to them the irony of "illegal advice": the thesis ordered or, the most practical formula, the copy of a thesis made elsewhere, and that has not yet been published. This risk surrounds the Italian system's thesis at the end of the degree and as a mandatory stage for anyone who intends to enter professional life. This is the characteristic of the "mass university" that is opposed to the "elite university," surpassed, made for the few, economically privileged and culturally elected by the omniscience of a "tutor" teacher who was concerned with the formation of the geniuses of the future. Destined to be geniuses, they should necessarily be few, just like the rest, destined to occupy any professional position in a provincial environment, could be many and hurried. These are the characteristics of the degree thesis: a legal imposition designed to create that pretentious final difficulty in selecting future professionals: the mass university and its social duties".
June 28, 2015
Reading How to Write a Thesis by Umberto Eco, even an ‘updated’ version in this MIT Press edition, felt like a sweet exercise in futility. There’s something folksy and quaint about being told how to put notes on index cards and properly organize them and being given tips for using the library and talking to librarians. (Not too surprising, as Eco wrote this in the late seventies—almost forty years ago!) But with over twenty-three editions and countless translations, there’s something to be said about this just-won’t-die thesis-writing guide. It endures, even in a world of Dropbox and Evernote and Endnote and online style guides and, of course, the oracle of information—the internet.
The reason for this is that Eco’s book actually has a lot more to say to people outside of academia, to those no longer writing long tracts of academic esoterica or using words like ‘juxtaposition,’ ‘asymmetricality,’ or ‘reconfigurations’ in everyday writing.
How to Write a Thesis could be easily re-titled ‘How to Live a More Realized Life’ or something along those lines—tongue-in-cheek, of course, as this is Eco and despite all the rhapsody in his prose is actually quite funny. What Eco’s classic tome gives us is the kind of advice you might get from an inspiring college graduation speech. It resonates with wisdom about being more curious, about being more engaged in the world—which is wonderful advice, especially for those who stand on the precipice of maturity, where on one side is youthful idealism and optimism still, and on the other side, lingering over the horizon, is the embittered resignation and indifference of...middle age? Just because you’re not a hot young thing in your twenties anymore doesn’t mean you can’t experience that revelatory process of discovery in other aspects of life.
Eco takes on the usual mechanics of the thesis-writing process—coming up with the right research question; outlining; collating notes—and expands on it so that it becomes a jumping off point to exploring the notions of creativity, originality, and attribution. There is a section on developing core ideas and then using those ideas to explore more peripheral ideas; often, the true thrust of a thesis comes in those minor works and footnotes. I also liked his ideas on how to approach the work of others. My favorite rule of thumb from the book is: “Work on a contemporary author as if he were ancient, and an ancient one as if he were contemporary … You will have more fun and write a better thesis.” Eco also has much to say on the obsession with spending too much time compiling information (he calls it the “alibi of photocopies”); it makes for a watered down, unfocused, blurry project. We’re all guilty of this in some way. How often do we bookmark and save articles we come across on the Web and never really get to? Eco is basically saying, ‘Don’t be a hoarder.’ Don’t do the equivalent of bottom trawling and hoping that there will be a prize fish in all the bycatch. One solution: Better outlining and a read-now attitude (don’t stockpile; read soon, and then decide to keep or toss).
I know it’s weird to think this but reading How to Write a Thesis felt very homey. It was very much a feel-good book; like being treated to home cooking. It reminds the academic to not be so insulated and narcissistic (reality check: odds are, only a handful of people will ever read your work in its entirety). And it reminds the rest of us of the worth of slowing down and digesting information thoughtfully, with care and consideration (no skimming), and of the the worth of committing to a task.
[Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest and candid review.]
The reason for this is that Eco’s book actually has a lot more to say to people outside of academia, to those no longer writing long tracts of academic esoterica or using words like ‘juxtaposition,’ ‘asymmetricality,’ or ‘reconfigurations’ in everyday writing.
How to Write a Thesis could be easily re-titled ‘How to Live a More Realized Life’ or something along those lines—tongue-in-cheek, of course, as this is Eco and despite all the rhapsody in his prose is actually quite funny. What Eco’s classic tome gives us is the kind of advice you might get from an inspiring college graduation speech. It resonates with wisdom about being more curious, about being more engaged in the world—which is wonderful advice, especially for those who stand on the precipice of maturity, where on one side is youthful idealism and optimism still, and on the other side, lingering over the horizon, is the embittered resignation and indifference of...middle age? Just because you’re not a hot young thing in your twenties anymore doesn’t mean you can’t experience that revelatory process of discovery in other aspects of life.
Eco takes on the usual mechanics of the thesis-writing process—coming up with the right research question; outlining; collating notes—and expands on it so that it becomes a jumping off point to exploring the notions of creativity, originality, and attribution. There is a section on developing core ideas and then using those ideas to explore more peripheral ideas; often, the true thrust of a thesis comes in those minor works and footnotes. I also liked his ideas on how to approach the work of others. My favorite rule of thumb from the book is: “Work on a contemporary author as if he were ancient, and an ancient one as if he were contemporary … You will have more fun and write a better thesis.” Eco also has much to say on the obsession with spending too much time compiling information (he calls it the “alibi of photocopies”); it makes for a watered down, unfocused, blurry project. We’re all guilty of this in some way. How often do we bookmark and save articles we come across on the Web and never really get to? Eco is basically saying, ‘Don’t be a hoarder.’ Don’t do the equivalent of bottom trawling and hoping that there will be a prize fish in all the bycatch. One solution: Better outlining and a read-now attitude (don’t stockpile; read soon, and then decide to keep or toss).
I know it’s weird to think this but reading How to Write a Thesis felt very homey. It was very much a feel-good book; like being treated to home cooking. It reminds the academic to not be so insulated and narcissistic (reality check: odds are, only a handful of people will ever read your work in its entirety). And it reminds the rest of us of the worth of slowing down and digesting information thoughtfully, with care and consideration (no skimming), and of the the worth of committing to a task.
[Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest and candid review.]
September 3, 2020
«Dite tranquillamente che "riteniamo che" o "si può ritenere che". Nel momento in cui parlate, voi siete l'esperto. Se si scoprirà che siete un esperto fasullo, peggio per voi, ma non avete il diritto di essere esitanti. Voi siete il funzionario dell'umanità che parla a nome della collettività su quel dato argomento. Siate umili e prudenti prima di aprir bocca, ma quando l'avete aperta siate superbi e orgogliosi.
Fare una tesi sull'argomento X significa presumere che prima di allora nessuno avesse detto cose così complete e così chiare su quell'argomento. Tutto questo libro vi ha insegnato che dovete andare cauti nel scegliere l'argomento, che dovete essere così accorti da sceglierlo molto limitato, magari facilissimo, magari ignobilmente settoriale. Ma su quello che avete scelto, fosse pure Variazioni nella vendita dei quotidiani all'edicola all'angolo di Via Pisacane e Via Gustavo Modena dal 24 al 28 agosto 1976 , su quello voi dovete essere la massima autorità vivente .
E anche se avete scelto una tesi di compilazione che riassume tutto quello che è stato detto sull'argomento senza aggiungere nulla di nuovo, voi siete un'autorità su ciò che è stato detto da altre autorità. Nessuno deve conoscere meglio di voi tutto quello che è stato detto su quell'argomento.»
Fare una tesi sull'argomento X significa presumere che prima di allora nessuno avesse detto cose così complete e così chiare su quell'argomento. Tutto questo libro vi ha insegnato che dovete andare cauti nel scegliere l'argomento, che dovete essere così accorti da sceglierlo molto limitato, magari facilissimo, magari ignobilmente settoriale. Ma su quello che avete scelto, fosse pure Variazioni nella vendita dei quotidiani all'edicola all'angolo di Via Pisacane e Via Gustavo Modena dal 24 al 28 agosto 1976 , su quello voi dovete essere la massima autorità vivente .
E anche se avete scelto una tesi di compilazione che riassume tutto quello che è stato detto sull'argomento senza aggiungere nulla di nuovo, voi siete un'autorità su ciò che è stato detto da altre autorità. Nessuno deve conoscere meglio di voi tutto quello che è stato detto su quell'argomento.»
January 5, 2020
Il testo è un po' datato, sicuramente alcuni suggerimenti oggi possono sembrare anacronistici (il libro è stato scritto nel 1977).
Tuttavia ci sono invece molti consigli ancora validissimi, e la "voce" di Eco è riconoscibile e rassicurante. Piccola nota: la versione ebook che ho è così piena di refusi da rendere faticosa la lettura. Non la consiglio!
Tuttavia ci sono invece molti consigli ancora validissimi, e la "voce" di Eco è riconoscibile e rassicurante. Piccola nota: la versione ebook che ho è così piena di refusi da rendere faticosa la lettura. Non la consiglio!
November 28, 2018
https://labibliotecadellalettricesoli...
Sto per dire una cosa che stupirà solo chi non conosce Eco. Questo libro fa morire dal ridere. Se state per affrontare la scrittura della tesi e siete in alto mare, rivolgetevi a lui. Davvero. Non solo il suo libro è utile dal punto di vista tecnico, ma vi strapperà una grandissima risata. Eco era un uomo intelligente e profondamente ironico e simpatico. E oltre ad aiutarvi nel vostro percorso, sicuramente riuscirà a infondervi il buon umore e la voglia di completare il vostro lavoro.
Da un punto di vista tecnico, il libro fa riferimento alle tesi di Laurea di Lettere. Lo sconsiglio a chi stia preparando tesi scientifiche, perché gli esempi che riporta sono quasi tutti di carattere umanistico. Inoltre, a causa del fatto che il libro è datato, manca totalmente un approfondimento sulla ricerca di materiale in digitale. Cosa che, in ogni caso, non penso debba insegnarci nessuno, visto che come nuove generazioni possiamo solo insegnare in merito :D
In ogni caso, leggere che Eco - e altri studiosi con lui - andava a procacciarsi i testi per la tesi in giro per le biblioteche d'Europa m'ha fatta emozionare. M'è scesa una lacrima al pensiero di quanto possa essere stata bella la sua esperienza di ricerca, condividendo con lui la passione per le biblioteche e la caccia al libro perduto o introvabile. Non so se avrò mai la biblioteca gigantesca di Eco, ma ci provo lo stesso. Intanto, tra i miei testi, posso annoverare anche questo suo. Splendido.
Sto per dire una cosa che stupirà solo chi non conosce Eco. Questo libro fa morire dal ridere. Se state per affrontare la scrittura della tesi e siete in alto mare, rivolgetevi a lui. Davvero. Non solo il suo libro è utile dal punto di vista tecnico, ma vi strapperà una grandissima risata. Eco era un uomo intelligente e profondamente ironico e simpatico. E oltre ad aiutarvi nel vostro percorso, sicuramente riuscirà a infondervi il buon umore e la voglia di completare il vostro lavoro.
Da un punto di vista tecnico, il libro fa riferimento alle tesi di Laurea di Lettere. Lo sconsiglio a chi stia preparando tesi scientifiche, perché gli esempi che riporta sono quasi tutti di carattere umanistico. Inoltre, a causa del fatto che il libro è datato, manca totalmente un approfondimento sulla ricerca di materiale in digitale. Cosa che, in ogni caso, non penso debba insegnarci nessuno, visto che come nuove generazioni possiamo solo insegnare in merito :D
In ogni caso, leggere che Eco - e altri studiosi con lui - andava a procacciarsi i testi per la tesi in giro per le biblioteche d'Europa m'ha fatta emozionare. M'è scesa una lacrima al pensiero di quanto possa essere stata bella la sua esperienza di ricerca, condividendo con lui la passione per le biblioteche e la caccia al libro perduto o introvabile. Non so se avrò mai la biblioteca gigantesca di Eco, ma ci provo lo stesso. Intanto, tra i miei testi, posso annoverare anche questo suo. Splendido.
January 29, 2019
Tez yazacak öğrenciler için birçok pratik ve uygulamalı tavsiye ve örneğin yer aldığı güzel bir kitap. Bazı kısımları daktilo ile tez yazma dönemine ait olsa da genel itibariyle güncelliğini koruyan bir kitap.
Kitapla ilgili notlarım: https://kitapokurum.blogspot.com/2019...
Kitapla ilgili notlarım: https://kitapokurum.blogspot.com/2019...
March 16, 2021
La tesi può essere davvero una sfida a scacchi con sé stessi (a volte pure con il proprio relatore!).
Ho apprezzato l'humor che caratterizzava la figura di Umberto Eco e i suoi preziosi consigli che non fanno mai male, anche per chi come me ha già affrontato una tesi triennale!
Alcune cose sono datate come giusto che sia visto che l'opera è stata scritta negli anni '70, ma la sostanza resta comunque quella: scrivere una buona tesi, magari dando una nuova linfa a idee già note, rispettando alcune regole base e senza cadere nel plagio.
Dopo aver letto questo libro si può iniziare a scrivere la propria tesi e come disse qualcuno : "che Dio ce la mandi buona!"
Ho apprezzato l'humor che caratterizzava la figura di Umberto Eco e i suoi preziosi consigli che non fanno mai male, anche per chi come me ha già affrontato una tesi triennale!
Alcune cose sono datate come giusto che sia visto che l'opera è stata scritta negli anni '70, ma la sostanza resta comunque quella: scrivere una buona tesi, magari dando una nuova linfa a idee già note, rispettando alcune regole base e senza cadere nel plagio.
Dopo aver letto questo libro si può iniziare a scrivere la propria tesi e come disse qualcuno : "che Dio ce la mandi buona!"
September 20, 2019
To get an idea of what How to Write a Thesis will be like, you need to start with the cover. It's not a photograph of someone writing a thesis—it's a photograph of Umberto Eco in his office, looking smug and academically elite. Your enjoyment of the book will depend on how much patience you have for this. I can understand people who love it, and I can understand people who are very annoyed by it. I'm somewhere in between.
As I began reading the recent English translation of Eco's 1977 guide, I found myself frustrated with his smug, elite tone. I couldn't imagine asking any of my thesis students to read this. But I kept reading, and as I did I began to remember my own graduate training. I had a professor a lot like Eco, and reading this book brought that voice back to my mind. I realized that in the years since receiving my PhD, I've seen higher education in general become flimsier, less rigorous. Part of the reason I resisted Eco's guidance in the early pages is probably just that it's been a while since I've been pushed to that level of precision in research. When I got back into that mindset I was trained in, I started enjoying How to Write a Thesis a lot more. I can see recommending several sections of the book to my students. What's good about the book is content that I don't find in the many other academic writing guides.
However . . . the book is not without its problems, most of which stem not from Eco's tone (which I got used to) but from the outdated or unnecessary content. Pages and pages of Eco explaining how to cite sources or format documents—it's neither necessary nor particularly interesting. We turn to Chicago or APA and each school's or publication's particular style guides. Why make it all up from scratch?
The book is also firmly grounded in the era of typewritten manuscripts and research done entirely in libraries and on paper, not online. A lot of Eco's principles are still completely relevant (and badly needed in American academia), but it's distracting to have them presented from within a world that no longer exists. I see no reason not to update the book, allowing the valuable content to shine forth in a context that matches what students and researchers now experience. What Eco writes about creating bibliographic notecards, for example, is very much what I now do in Evernote; but for students who are new to the research process, asking them to translate Eco's advice into present-day technology is too much.
My final criticism is that Eco is writing only about research that can be done in print sources. Though he suggests that his method is appropriate to the hard sciences, I'm doubtful. And ethnographic, fieldwork-based research includes a lot of methods that aren't within Eco's landscape at all in this book. Someone could take the useful content from this book and make it a few chapters within a larger book that really does cover a fuller spectrum of research.
As I began reading the recent English translation of Eco's 1977 guide, I found myself frustrated with his smug, elite tone. I couldn't imagine asking any of my thesis students to read this. But I kept reading, and as I did I began to remember my own graduate training. I had a professor a lot like Eco, and reading this book brought that voice back to my mind. I realized that in the years since receiving my PhD, I've seen higher education in general become flimsier, less rigorous. Part of the reason I resisted Eco's guidance in the early pages is probably just that it's been a while since I've been pushed to that level of precision in research. When I got back into that mindset I was trained in, I started enjoying How to Write a Thesis a lot more. I can see recommending several sections of the book to my students. What's good about the book is content that I don't find in the many other academic writing guides.
However . . . the book is not without its problems, most of which stem not from Eco's tone (which I got used to) but from the outdated or unnecessary content. Pages and pages of Eco explaining how to cite sources or format documents—it's neither necessary nor particularly interesting. We turn to Chicago or APA and each school's or publication's particular style guides. Why make it all up from scratch?
The book is also firmly grounded in the era of typewritten manuscripts and research done entirely in libraries and on paper, not online. A lot of Eco's principles are still completely relevant (and badly needed in American academia), but it's distracting to have them presented from within a world that no longer exists. I see no reason not to update the book, allowing the valuable content to shine forth in a context that matches what students and researchers now experience. What Eco writes about creating bibliographic notecards, for example, is very much what I now do in Evernote; but for students who are new to the research process, asking them to translate Eco's advice into present-day technology is too much.
My final criticism is that Eco is writing only about research that can be done in print sources. Though he suggests that his method is appropriate to the hard sciences, I'm doubtful. And ethnographic, fieldwork-based research includes a lot of methods that aren't within Eco's landscape at all in this book. Someone could take the useful content from this book and make it a few chapters within a larger book that really does cover a fuller spectrum of research.
December 21, 2018
Tez hazırlamaya başlamadan (hatta tez konusu belirlemeden) okumakta fayda olan bir eser. Bilgi teknolojilerindeki gelişmeler nedeniyle kitaptaki bazı yöntem ve öneriler anlamını biraz yitirmiş olsa da tez nedir, neyi içermelidir, nasıl yazılmalıdır sorusunu bence iyi cevaplıyor.
Öğrencilere küçük bir tavsiye: Her an el altında tutmak gereken bir eser değil, satın almak yerine kütüphaneden ödünç alıp okunabilir :)
Öğrencilere küçük bir tavsiye: Her an el altında tutmak gereken bir eser değil, satın almak yerine kütüphaneden ödünç alıp okunabilir :)
January 19, 2012
Para alguien que, como yo, aun está pensando en el tema de sus tesis y tiene algo así como un semestre para empezar a trabajarle en serio este puede ser un gran libro. Quizás cuando escriba mi tesis me voy a dar cuenta de que todo lo que Eco afirma y aconseja es falso y contraproducente, lo cual dudo, pero en cualquier caso eso no será sino dentro de un buen tiempo. Por ahora quiero dirigirme al estudiante que se encuentra en una situación similar a la mía.
Desde que empecé a pensar en serio en un tema para mi tesis me he dado cuenta de lo complejo y estresante que puede ser. Cuando supe de la existencia del libro me emocioné y cuando empecé a leerlo lo hice como quien se toma una aspirina para el dolor de cabeza. La medicina funcionó bastante bien, pero no precisamente de la manera en que lo había imaginado. Lo leí en busca de consejos prácticos que hicieran de la escritura de la tesis algo menos mítico, menos aterrador, menos traumático. Efectivamente encontré muchos consejos de este tipo, pero su efecto balsámico fue complementario y más bien estuvo supeditado a lo que considero que es el mensaje central de este libro: el resultado final es importante, pero el proceso de investigación y escritura de la tesis es lo fundamental y lo que nos enriquecerá y fortalecerá como investigadores.
Independientemente de cuál sea el tema que uno escoja para hacer la tesis (claro, esto tiene límites como bien lo señala Eco), el hecho de dedicarle toda nuestra capacidad intelectual, nuestra imaginación y nuestro esfuerzo a un tema determinado, de llegar a dominar y quizás superar en algo una determinada porción del conocimiento existente es lo valioso. Eco insiste en que la forma en que abordemos la investigación de nuestro tema de tesis (y mucho del material que elaboremos también) nos ayudará en nuestro futuro como investigadores. Más que ir de un punto A a un punto B, lo importante con la tesis parece ser aprender a recorrer distancias.
PD: El libro es más bien viejito, claramente la tecnología de la que dispone un investigador actual facilita muchas labores que en la época en que Eco escribió eran tediosísimas y elimina muchas otras dificultades. Creo que sería bueno aprender cuál es y cómo aprovechar la tecnología disponible.
Desde que empecé a pensar en serio en un tema para mi tesis me he dado cuenta de lo complejo y estresante que puede ser. Cuando supe de la existencia del libro me emocioné y cuando empecé a leerlo lo hice como quien se toma una aspirina para el dolor de cabeza. La medicina funcionó bastante bien, pero no precisamente de la manera en que lo había imaginado. Lo leí en busca de consejos prácticos que hicieran de la escritura de la tesis algo menos mítico, menos aterrador, menos traumático. Efectivamente encontré muchos consejos de este tipo, pero su efecto balsámico fue complementario y más bien estuvo supeditado a lo que considero que es el mensaje central de este libro: el resultado final es importante, pero el proceso de investigación y escritura de la tesis es lo fundamental y lo que nos enriquecerá y fortalecerá como investigadores.
Independientemente de cuál sea el tema que uno escoja para hacer la tesis (claro, esto tiene límites como bien lo señala Eco), el hecho de dedicarle toda nuestra capacidad intelectual, nuestra imaginación y nuestro esfuerzo a un tema determinado, de llegar a dominar y quizás superar en algo una determinada porción del conocimiento existente es lo valioso. Eco insiste en que la forma en que abordemos la investigación de nuestro tema de tesis (y mucho del material que elaboremos también) nos ayudará en nuestro futuro como investigadores. Más que ir de un punto A a un punto B, lo importante con la tesis parece ser aprender a recorrer distancias.
PD: El libro es más bien viejito, claramente la tecnología de la que dispone un investigador actual facilita muchas labores que en la época en que Eco escribió eran tediosísimas y elimina muchas otras dificultades. Creo que sería bueno aprender cuál es y cómo aprovechar la tecnología disponible.
December 22, 2018
Tez yazmak gibi kurallarla bezeli, sinir bozucu teknik detaylarla dolu ömür törpüsü bir işi bu kadar akıcı, anlaşılır ve eğlenceli bir üslupla, tek bir noktayı bile karanlıkta bırakmadan anlatabilmek, bütün bunları yalnızca bilmeyi ve yıllar boyunca uygulamış olmayı değil, yaptığı işi sevmeyi, ciddiye almayı ve üzerinde uzun uzun düşünmüş olmayı da gerektirir. Okurken ara ara, "böyle bir iyiliği size babanız olsa yapmaz," diye düşündüm, zira hepimizin zaman içinde oradan buradan öğrenip bir araya getirdiği onca kural ve teamülü tek bir kitapta toplamakla kalmamış, onları gerekçelendirmiş ve istisna ihtimallerini de atlamadan sunmuş Eco.
Keşke bu kitapla çok daha önce tanışmış olsaydım, keşke aklımdaki pek çok soruyu bu kitaba sorsaydım; belki şimdi çok daha rahat yazıyor olurdum, belki de şimdiye kadar mezun bile olurdum!
40 yıldan daha eski ve İtalyan (ya da İtalya'da eğitim almakta olan) öğrenciler için yazılmış olmasına rağmen oldukça kapsayıcı ve güncel bir kitap bu. Yalnızca tez yazanlar/yazacak olanlar değil, akademik araştırma yapan herkes (yani, en azından tüm üniversite öğrencileri) bu kitabı mutlaka okumalı. Üstelik, yalnızca bu kitabı okuyarak bile Eco'nun hem çok iyi bir akademisyen hem de çok iyi bir yazar olduğunu anlamak mümkün. Ve onun yazdığı çağda okur olmak hepimiz için büyük şans.
Keşke bu kitapla çok daha önce tanışmış olsaydım, keşke aklımdaki pek çok soruyu bu kitaba sorsaydım; belki şimdi çok daha rahat yazıyor olurdum, belki de şimdiye kadar mezun bile olurdum!
40 yıldan daha eski ve İtalyan (ya da İtalya'da eğitim almakta olan) öğrenciler için yazılmış olmasına rağmen oldukça kapsayıcı ve güncel bir kitap bu. Yalnızca tez yazanlar/yazacak olanlar değil, akademik araştırma yapan herkes (yani, en azından tüm üniversite öğrencileri) bu kitabı mutlaka okumalı. Üstelik, yalnızca bu kitabı okuyarak bile Eco'nun hem çok iyi bir akademisyen hem de çok iyi bir yazar olduğunu anlamak mümkün. Ve onun yazdığı çağda okur olmak hepimiz için büyük şans.
January 24, 2016
Sau hai tháng quằn quại, cuối cùng cũng đọc xong quyển này.
Tôi sẽ cho quyển này 1 sao vì bản dịch quá sức cẩu thả, y như quăng bản tiếng Ý vào Google Translate và ngồi sửa lại để khi đọc có vẻ trơn tru theo kiểu word-by-word. Nhưng với một nguồn động viên an ủi lớn lao cùng văn phong đỏm dáng từ lão già mà tôi cực kỳ yêu thích này, tôi sẽ cho quyển này 3 sao. Dù sao thì nó cũng vực tôi dậy để tìm lại cảm hứng cho cơ hội nghiên c��u đầu tiên của mình.
Nói tóm lại, trung bình thì quyển này 2 sao.
Tôi sẽ cho quyển này 1 sao vì bản dịch quá sức cẩu thả, y như quăng bản tiếng Ý vào Google Translate và ngồi sửa lại để khi đọc có vẻ trơn tru theo kiểu word-by-word. Nhưng với một nguồn động viên an ủi lớn lao cùng văn phong đỏm dáng từ lão già mà tôi cực kỳ yêu thích này, tôi sẽ cho quyển này 3 sao. Dù sao thì nó cũng vực tôi dậy để tìm lại cảm hứng cho cơ hội nghiên c��u đầu tiên của mình.
Nói tóm lại, trung bình thì quyển này 2 sao.
January 6, 2023
This was so much fun to read; witty, encouraging, ironical; Eco advises wisely; from maintaining a healthy and sustainable outlook on your project right down to intensely practical nuts-and-bolts pointers.
July 3, 2021
“Your thesis is like your first love”
Eco delivered not honest-to-god practical advice for writing a thesis from choosing the right topic to mastering the final draft. He wrote this book for a hypothetical student without any experience and this is important to remember. It is all too easy to be swept along by Eco’s dynamic thought process.
Some comments by Eco on how to write a thesis :-
>> Rewrite many times.
>> “You are not Proust”, write short sentences.
>> “You are not e.e. Cummings” — use the language and style of scholarship.
>> The more paragraphs, the better.
>> Don’t use rhetorical flourishes if you have to explain them.
>> Always define a term when you introduce it.
>> Don’t explain who someone is if they are well-known — although you should provide
information in the text, or a note — at least a couple of dates for everyone.
>> Use we instead of I — you are inviting a reader to accept your proposal — or use impersonal
expressions.
How to Write a Thesis is full of meaningful lessons that equip writers for a life outside the walls of
the classroom. I also found out to quote it directly.. - The passing of time and technological developments have altered the way researchers engage and interact with their source material. In light of this, Eco’s How to Write a Thesis becomes increasingly significant and even more when one considers the publication has not been edited or revised since its release in 1977. This is unusual, particularly in a contemporary context where access to knowledge is near-instantaneous and information is transient.
Eco delivered not honest-to-god practical advice for writing a thesis from choosing the right topic to mastering the final draft. He wrote this book for a hypothetical student without any experience and this is important to remember. It is all too easy to be swept along by Eco’s dynamic thought process.
Some comments by Eco on how to write a thesis :-
>> Rewrite many times.
>> “You are not Proust”, write short sentences.
>> “You are not e.e. Cummings” — use the language and style of scholarship.
>> The more paragraphs, the better.
>> Don’t use rhetorical flourishes if you have to explain them.
>> Always define a term when you introduce it.
>> Don’t explain who someone is if they are well-known — although you should provide
information in the text, or a note — at least a couple of dates for everyone.
>> Use we instead of I — you are inviting a reader to accept your proposal — or use impersonal
expressions.
How to Write a Thesis is full of meaningful lessons that equip writers for a life outside the walls of
the classroom. I also found out to quote it directly.. - The passing of time and technological developments have altered the way researchers engage and interact with their source material. In light of this, Eco’s How to Write a Thesis becomes increasingly significant and even more when one considers the publication has not been edited or revised since its release in 1977. This is unusual, particularly in a contemporary context where access to knowledge is near-instantaneous and information is transient.
July 24, 2015
‘Do not expect this book to tell you what to put in your thesis, or what to do with your life.’
A wonderful little book that, while not being essential reading, imbues the reader with a quiet enthusiasm for the difficulties, complexities, and pleasures of researching and drafting a thesis. There are some pieces of advice that, for me, are particularly worth committing to memory (‘Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft’, for example, and ‘Do not play the solitary genius’) as I embark on writing the first of my two final year dissertations. While it is true that large portions of the practical advice this book offers are considerably outdated (the index card system) and others are perhaps not of use (for me, the guide to referencing, as I am a member of an institution which uses a house style), there are another hundred reasons to sit down and spend a day reading through Eco’s advice. For one, I didn’t find his advice re: index cards to be so outdated as to be useless: the information to be contained in them is still pertinent, perhaps even more so, and if you’re like me and enjoy forays into the analog, then it’s a perfect exercise in slowing down and thinking things through. I’m also planning on adapting Eco’s suggestion to keep ideas/quotations/connections/readings cards boxes to Excel for my own work.
And, last but not least, it contains perhaps the most important words of wisdom for anyone approaching any piece of writing: ‘What really matters is that you write your thesis with gusto.’
A wonderful little book that, while not being essential reading, imbues the reader with a quiet enthusiasm for the difficulties, complexities, and pleasures of researching and drafting a thesis. There are some pieces of advice that, for me, are particularly worth committing to memory (‘Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft’, for example, and ‘Do not play the solitary genius’) as I embark on writing the first of my two final year dissertations. While it is true that large portions of the practical advice this book offers are considerably outdated (the index card system) and others are perhaps not of use (for me, the guide to referencing, as I am a member of an institution which uses a house style), there are another hundred reasons to sit down and spend a day reading through Eco’s advice. For one, I didn’t find his advice re: index cards to be so outdated as to be useless: the information to be contained in them is still pertinent, perhaps even more so, and if you’re like me and enjoy forays into the analog, then it’s a perfect exercise in slowing down and thinking things through. I’m also planning on adapting Eco’s suggestion to keep ideas/quotations/connections/readings cards boxes to Excel for my own work.
And, last but not least, it contains perhaps the most important words of wisdom for anyone approaching any piece of writing: ‘What really matters is that you write your thesis with gusto.’
September 1, 2011
Posted on my book blog.
I'm currently enrolled in a Master's program and about to start working on my thesis in Museum Studies. Since I used to be a Medicine student, I'm more familiar with scientific research, so I wanted a book that was more focused on other kinds of works. This one by Umberto Eco seems to be regarded as the authority in the matter.
It was a nice read (even if the author can seem rather unorthodox at times) and overall quite useful. I read an older edition so the research chapters are painfully dated (no internet back in those days), but I don't mind because it's helpful to know what to do in those cases when the library you want to use doesn't have a completely digitalized catalog.
Overall, useful, specially if you're, like me, just starting out.
I'm currently enrolled in a Master's program and about to start working on my thesis in Museum Studies. Since I used to be a Medicine student, I'm more familiar with scientific research, so I wanted a book that was more focused on other kinds of works. This one by Umberto Eco seems to be regarded as the authority in the matter.
It was a nice read (even if the author can seem rather unorthodox at times) and overall quite useful. I read an older edition so the research chapters are painfully dated (no internet back in those days), but I don't mind because it's helpful to know what to do in those cases when the library you want to use doesn't have a completely digitalized catalog.
Overall, useful, specially if you're, like me, just starting out.
January 10, 2018
3.75
Se la parte inerente alla bibliografia è un po’ noiosa, le spiegazioni su come stendere una tesi sono molto utili e, spesso, consigliano rimedi semplici a problemi apparentemente insormontabili. Un testo un po’ datato (parla di macchina da scrivere e microfilm), ma ancora attuale per quanto riguarda la stesura.
Se la parte inerente alla bibliografia è un po’ noiosa, le spiegazioni su come stendere una tesi sono molto utili e, spesso, consigliano rimedi semplici a problemi apparentemente insormontabili. Un testo un po’ datato (parla di macchina da scrivere e microfilm), ma ancora attuale per quanto riguarda la stesura.
October 25, 2019
Sharp, brilliant and a great guide to students facing THE THESIS period. Adored it!
November 17, 2023
يخبرنا امبرتو ايكو في كتابه ان الإطروحة في المقام الأول هي عملية تنظيم الأفكار و ان الباحث اعلم ببحثه حتى و لو كان بحثه ينصب فقط على جمع معلومات عن ذلك الموضوع المبحوث و قد قدم كتابه هذا لفئة محددة لم تشمل جميع العلوم و المعارف بل تخصص في مجالات معينة و ان وجدت ان بعض المعلومات في الكتاب عامة و صالحة لجميع طلبة الدراسات العليا فمثلا اعتبر العمل في مجال العمارة لا يمكن له ان يكن تاريخيا و انما تجريبيا أو نظريا فالبحث في المجال التجريبي يبدأ بعرض و لو مبسط في الدراسات المشابهة ثم البدء فيها و يفترض ان لا تتم نظريا و لا يتم فيها ابتداع المنهج ( و المقصود المنهج البحثي محدد )اما بالنسبة لباحثي مجال الأدب فيفترض منهم دراسة المعاصر ككلاسيكي و دراسة الكلاسيكي كمعاصر للخروج بموضوع و بحث جيد
و يفرق ايكو البحث نسبة الى مدة كتابته فلا تعد المدة التي لا تقل عن ٦ أشهر من بداية نشوء الفكرة حتى تسليم الإطروحة مطبوعة افضل ما يتم إنتاجه و لكنها قد تُقبل من مبدأ القبول الأدنى مع إمكانية الاستفادة من قراءات سنوات سابقة و هذا يخفف ضرر إنتاجها في هذه المدة القصيرة الا انها فترة يمكن الإنتاج الجيد فيها اذا كان الموضوع محددا و معاصرا اي لا يتطلب بحث تاريخي و تكون المراجع متوفرة كما و يسهل الوصول إليها
بينما الفترة التي تجاوز ٣ سنوات يمكن فيها اعتبار ان اختيار الموضوع كان خاطئا أو أن الباحث أراد الكتابة في كل شيء أو انه سقط في العثرات و عمد الى ركن الرسالة المتكرر ثم العودة لها
كما ركز الكتاب على اللغة الأخرى في كتابة الإطروحة و خاصة القراءة و قد افترض صعوبة الأخذ بموضوع يتطلب معرفة باللغات الأجنبية إلا في بعض الحالات الضرورية منها إعداد اطروحة عن مؤلف اجنبي و هي لا تتم الا بالقراءة له في لغته الام كما أن الكتاب حذر من الكتابة حول موضوع معظم المراجع المتوفرة فيه بلغة لا نعرفها .
و قد حدد ايكو شروط علمية البحث بعدة نقاط هي :
١- التحديد و الوضوح بالنسبة للاخرين و إذ ما يُراد إقناع اي شخص بأي موضوع فمن خلال التحدث عن القيمة التاريخية أو الأسطورة لذلك الشيء ، الاستقصاء الافتراضي لبعض مواصفات ذلك الشيء ، تقديم أدلة كافية للبرهنة على وجود ذلك الشيء
٢- يجب على البحث ذكر امور لم يتم قبولها من قبل عن ذلك الموضوع أو مراجعة الموضوع أو الشيء من منظور مختلف و لا يمكن اعتبار بحث جمع الآراء أو التصنيف ذو قيمة الا ان لم يكن تم التطرق له من قبل
٣- يجب أن يكنْ البحث نافعا و يضفي شيئا الى معرفة الآخرين
٤- يجب أن يزودنا بالعناصر الدالة لإثبات صحة افتراضات البحث من خلال تقديم الدليل أو الادلة ، توضيح كيفية التوصل اليه ، توضيح كيفية العمل للوصول لنتيجة مشابهة، توضيح نوعية أو طبيعة الدليل مما يجعل الافتراض قائم
و في إمكانية تحويل الموضوع المعاصر الى اطروحة علمية يذكر الكاتب ان العملية تتم من خلال التحديد الزماني و المكاني قبل الشروع بالبحث لان الموضوع المعاصر قابل للتحديث أو يتم اختيار عينة للعمل عليها على وفق أسس محددة كما يمكن افتراض نموذج مثالي يرافقه عرض للنموذج الواقعي و يجب تعريف و توضيح ذلك النموذج المثالي إذ ربما يكون متعارف عليه اصطلاحيا اي كمصطلح الا ان الباحث لا يتفق مع هذا المضمون الإصطلاحي و يهدف الى تعديله و ذلك من خلال وضع نمطية تنظيمية احصائية يتم الحصول عليها من :
• البيانات الرسمية ، كل ما يتم تسجيله رسميا
• اقرارات أصحاب المصلحة ، كل ما يصرح به اي مسؤول في هذا المجال بشكل رسمي في مقابلة أو استبيان
• السجلات ، تعتمد عادة على فكرة المعايشة للباحث لتلك التجربة او لذلك الموضوع المراد الكتابة عنه
و يخبرنا ايكو بقابلية الحيلولة دون استنفاد المشرف لطاقتنا إذ ان الموضوع من اختيار الطالب أو من ملاحظة تأتيه من الأستاذ إذ احيانا يعطي الاستاذ موضوعا إما له به خبرة أو جديد عليه و الحالة الثانية تتطلب ان يدرس مع الطالب حتى لتكنْ له خبرة بالموضوع أو ممكن ان يكنْ لديه عدد من الطلبة يعمل كل منهم بموضوع متقارب مع الآخر خلال فترة زمنية قصيرة و هو بهذه الحالة يضع في حسبانه القيام ببحث له على المدى الطويل بالاستفادة من دراسات طلابه و احيانا تحدث سرقة من المشرف لمادة طرحها الطالب دون ذكر اسم الطالب لكن احيانا لا يكون هناك فاصل بين اسم الطالب و اسم الأستاذ فيمكن للأخير الاستفادة من المادة العلمية أو الاحصائية مع العلم ان تقارب موضوع البحث مع موضوعات اخرى لا يفترض اعتبارها سرقة إذ قد تتشابه الأفكار
و قد تطرق الكتاب إلى المادة العلمية للبحث وفقا للمصادر و البحث عنها فالمصادر مثلا ان كان موضوع البحث هو الفكر الاقتصادي لآدم سميث فالمصادر الأساسية أو الأولية هي كتب آدم سميث بينما المصادر التي حللت فكره أو تناولت فكره أو الكتب النقدية أو الأدب النقدي هي مصادر ثانوية... اما اذا كان المهم هو فكر أو قراءة فكر آدم سميث هنا يكون المهم هو المصادر التي تكلمت أو حللت فكره لا فكره كما قاله هو إذا من المهم تحديد هدف البحث لتحديد المشكلة و بالتالي تحديد المصادر
فالمصادر التي من الدرجة الأولى و الدرجة الثانية تتحدد حسب موضوع الإطروحة فإذا كانت الفكرة هي مناقشة الطبعات النقدية يتم العودة للاصول إما اذا كانت الفكرة هي مناقشة مفهوم معين فيكفي الطبعات النقدية و لا يجوز اطلاقا الاعتماد على مصادر الدرجة الثانية و اعتبارها أصلية من الناحية الاخلاقية فقد تكون أعدمت النصوص الأصلية أو قد يكون نفس النص مثلا و لكن حدث له إعادة نشر في سنة لاحقة
اما البحث عن المراجع ��يكون في المكتبة إما بعنوان الموضوع و البحث عنه أو من خلال فهرست المؤلفين الذين من المؤكد بحثوا في الموضوع الذي يُراد البحث فيه و هو أوثق من تصنيف الموضوعات لانه لا يخضع لاجتهاد أمين المكتبة و للأفضل سؤال المشرف أو أمين المكتبة عن المراجع و يفضل ان يكون لدينا فكرة عن المراجع التي نحتاجها قبل البحث في المكتبة
و يبقى السؤال الذي يشغل كل طالب للدراسات العليا هو هل يجب قراءة كل الكتب التي وجدت اثناء البحث و يعتمد جواب هذا السؤال على الطالب نفسه كيف له ان يبدأ إما من لا يعرف كيف يبدأ فيفضل ان يقرأ أعمال نقدية إذ كان في مجال الأدب أو النقد ليعرف الأرضية التي يعمل عليها و كذلك فقراءة الكتب تعتمد على نفسية الطالب هل هو احادي القدرات ام متعدد فالأول لا يجمع عملين و هو أكثر منهجية و الثاني غير واضح لكنه اكثر ابداعا و سعة للخيال .
و يؤكد ايكو على خطة العمل : الفهرسة و تكون بتقسيم العمل الى عدة فصول و لا يشترط التوازن في التقسيمات بين الفصول المتعددة إذ ان العمل يتقسم بشكل أساس الى العنوان و المدخل و الفهرست( قائمة المحتويات ) و هي قابلة للتعديل المستمر قطعا من خلال بطاقات العمل المتعددة كتلك التي يتم استخدامها مع المصادر الأولية و هي تحتاج لكتابة الملاحظات مثلا اذا كانت الكتب و المصادر تعود ملكيتها لنا فنستعمل الخطوط تحت المهم و نضع كتابة في الحواشي أو نشرح المهم بألوان معينة في البطاقات و نفس اللون يستعمل تحت نصه في الكتاب إما اذا الكتاب ليس لنا أو له ملكية تاريخية و نادر فنستعمل فواصل نكتب بها تلك الملاحظات
و ينصح الكتاب الباحثين بعدة نصائح منها عدم الكتابة بأسلوب غامض و ملتوي بكثرة الضمائر بل الكتابة بوضوح حتى و ان اصبح الملل و التكرار سمة النص كما ينصح الكتاب بالعودة إلى البداية و تقليم النص بإستمرار و حذف ما يجب حذفه من ألفاظ و مقاطع غير واضحة و استخدام المشرف كحقل تجارب ليقرأ مسودات العمل تلك و بضرورة التوقف عن تفسير المعلومة المعروفة و ترك المعلومة الغامضة
و الأهم هو تجنب صيغة المفرد في الإطروحة إذ ان الإشارات النصية نوعان إما ان نذكر النص ثم نحلله أو نستخدم النص كسند لتحليل شخصي قمنا به و لا يتوجب ان ننسب فكرة الى مؤلف سبق و ان قام هو بنسبها لمؤلف اخر فهذا يعطي انطباع بأننا نستخدم مصادر درجة ثانية
الكتاب جيد جدا و خاصة لطلبة الماجستير و يُفترض بالطبع الأخذ بنظر الاعتبار الفترة الزمنية التي تم إنتاجه فيها فالعديد من الملاحظات التي وردت فيه بات العمل عليها أقل صعوبة نتيجة لوجود المصادر الإلكترونية و وسائل البحث و الكتابة المتطورة و مع ذلك فهو تمهيد نافع للمبتدئين في البحث العلمي
و يفرق ايكو البحث نسبة الى مدة كتابته فلا تعد المدة التي لا تقل عن ٦ أشهر من بداية نشوء الفكرة حتى تسليم الإطروحة مطبوعة افضل ما يتم إنتاجه و لكنها قد تُقبل من مبدأ القبول الأدنى مع إمكانية الاستفادة من قراءات سنوات سابقة و هذا يخفف ضرر إنتاجها في هذه المدة القصيرة الا انها فترة يمكن الإنتاج الجيد فيها اذا كان الموضوع محددا و معاصرا اي لا يتطلب بحث تاريخي و تكون المراجع متوفرة كما و يسهل الوصول إليها
بينما الفترة التي تجاوز ٣ سنوات يمكن فيها اعتبار ان اختيار الموضوع كان خاطئا أو أن الباحث أراد الكتابة في كل شيء أو انه سقط في العثرات و عمد الى ركن الرسالة المتكرر ثم العودة لها
كما ركز الكتاب على اللغة الأخرى في كتابة الإطروحة و خاصة القراءة و قد افترض صعوبة الأخذ بموضوع يتطلب معرفة باللغات الأجنبية إلا في بعض الحالات الضرورية منها إعداد اطروحة عن مؤلف اجنبي و هي لا تتم الا بالقراءة له في لغته الام كما أن الكتاب حذر من الكتابة حول موضوع معظم المراجع المتوفرة فيه بلغة لا نعرفها .
و قد حدد ايكو شروط علمية البحث بعدة نقاط هي :
١- التحديد و الوضوح بالنسبة للاخرين و إذ ما يُراد إقناع اي شخص بأي موضوع فمن خلال التحدث عن القيمة التاريخية أو الأسطورة لذلك الشيء ، الاستقصاء الافتراضي لبعض مواصفات ذلك الشيء ، تقديم أدلة كافية للبرهنة على وجود ذلك الشيء
٢- يجب على البحث ذكر امور لم يتم قبولها من قبل عن ذلك الموضوع أو مراجعة الموضوع أو الشيء من منظور مختلف و لا يمكن اعتبار بحث جمع الآراء أو التصنيف ذو قيمة الا ان لم يكن تم التطرق له من قبل
٣- يجب أن يكنْ البحث نافعا و يضفي شيئا الى معرفة الآخرين
٤- يجب أن يزودنا بالعناصر الدالة لإثبات صحة افتراضات البحث من خلال تقديم الدليل أو الادلة ، توضيح كيفية التوصل اليه ، توضيح كيفية العمل للوصول لنتيجة مشابهة، توضيح نوعية أو طبيعة الدليل مما يجعل الافتراض قائم
و في إمكانية تحويل الموضوع المعاصر الى اطروحة علمية يذكر الكاتب ان العملية تتم من خلال التحديد الزماني و المكاني قبل الشروع بالبحث لان الموضوع المعاصر قابل للتحديث أو يتم اختيار عينة للعمل عليها على وفق أسس محددة كما يمكن افتراض نموذج مثالي يرافقه عرض للنموذج الواقعي و يجب تعريف و توضيح ذلك النموذج المثالي إذ ربما يكون متعارف عليه اصطلاحيا اي كمصطلح الا ان الباحث لا يتفق مع هذا المضمون الإصطلاحي و يهدف الى تعديله و ذلك من خلال وضع نمطية تنظيمية احصائية يتم الحصول عليها من :
• البيانات الرسمية ، كل ما يتم تسجيله رسميا
• اقرارات أصحاب المصلحة ، كل ما يصرح به اي مسؤول في هذا المجال بشكل رسمي في مقابلة أو استبيان
• السجلات ، تعتمد عادة على فكرة المعايشة للباحث لتلك التجربة او لذلك الموضوع المراد الكتابة عنه
و يخبرنا ايكو بقابلية الحيلولة دون استنفاد المشرف لطاقتنا إذ ان الموضوع من اختيار الطالب أو من ملاحظة تأتيه من الأستاذ إذ احيانا يعطي الاستاذ موضوعا إما له به خبرة أو جديد عليه و الحالة الثانية تتطلب ان يدرس مع الطالب حتى لتكنْ له خبرة بالموضوع أو ممكن ان يكنْ لديه عدد من الطلبة يعمل كل منهم بموضوع متقارب مع الآخر خلال فترة زمنية قصيرة و هو بهذه الحالة يضع في حسبانه القيام ببحث له على المدى الطويل بالاستفادة من دراسات طلابه و احيانا تحدث سرقة من المشرف لمادة طرحها الطالب دون ذكر اسم الطالب لكن احيانا لا يكون هناك فاصل بين اسم الطالب و اسم الأستاذ فيمكن للأخير الاستفادة من المادة العلمية أو الاحصائية مع العلم ان تقارب موضوع البحث مع موضوعات اخرى لا يفترض اعتبارها سرقة إذ قد تتشابه الأفكار
و قد تطرق الكتاب إلى المادة العلمية للبحث وفقا للمصادر و البحث عنها فالمصادر مثلا ان كان موضوع البحث هو الفكر الاقتصادي لآدم سميث فالمصادر الأساسية أو الأولية هي كتب آدم سميث بينما المصادر التي حللت فكره أو تناولت فكره أو الكتب النقدية أو الأدب النقدي هي مصادر ثانوية... اما اذا كان المهم هو فكر أو قراءة فكر آدم سميث هنا يكون المهم هو المصادر التي تكلمت أو حللت فكره لا فكره كما قاله هو إذا من المهم تحديد هدف البحث لتحديد المشكلة و بالتالي تحديد المصادر
فالمصادر التي من الدرجة الأولى و الدرجة الثانية تتحدد حسب موضوع الإطروحة فإذا كانت الفكرة هي مناقشة الطبعات النقدية يتم العودة للاصول إما اذا كانت الفكرة هي مناقشة مفهوم معين فيكفي الطبعات النقدية و لا يجوز اطلاقا الاعتماد على مصادر الدرجة الثانية و اعتبارها أصلية من الناحية الاخلاقية فقد تكون أعدمت النصوص الأصلية أو قد يكون نفس النص مثلا و لكن حدث له إعادة نشر في سنة لاحقة
اما البحث عن المراجع ��يكون في المكتبة إما بعنوان الموضوع و البحث عنه أو من خلال فهرست المؤلفين الذين من المؤكد بحثوا في الموضوع الذي يُراد البحث فيه و هو أوثق من تصنيف الموضوعات لانه لا يخضع لاجتهاد أمين المكتبة و للأفضل سؤال المشرف أو أمين المكتبة عن المراجع و يفضل ان يكون لدينا فكرة عن المراجع التي نحتاجها قبل البحث في المكتبة
و يبقى السؤال الذي يشغل كل طالب للدراسات العليا هو هل يجب قراءة كل الكتب التي وجدت اثناء البحث و يعتمد جواب هذا السؤال على الطالب نفسه كيف له ان يبدأ إما من لا يعرف كيف يبدأ فيفضل ان يقرأ أعمال نقدية إذ كان في مجال الأدب أو النقد ليعرف الأرضية التي يعمل عليها و كذلك فقراءة الكتب تعتمد على نفسية الطالب هل هو احادي القدرات ام متعدد فالأول لا يجمع عملين و هو أكثر منهجية و الثاني غير واضح لكنه اكثر ابداعا و سعة للخيال .
و يؤكد ايكو على خطة العمل : الفهرسة و تكون بتقسيم العمل الى عدة فصول و لا يشترط التوازن في التقسيمات بين الفصول المتعددة إذ ان العمل يتقسم بشكل أساس الى العنوان و المدخل و الفهرست( قائمة المحتويات ) و هي قابلة للتعديل المستمر قطعا من خلال بطاقات العمل المتعددة كتلك التي يتم استخدامها مع المصادر الأولية و هي تحتاج لكتابة الملاحظات مثلا اذا كانت الكتب و المصادر تعود ملكيتها لنا فنستعمل الخطوط تحت المهم و نضع كتابة في الحواشي أو نشرح المهم بألوان معينة في البطاقات و نفس اللون يستعمل تحت نصه في الكتاب إما اذا الكتاب ليس لنا أو له ملكية تاريخية و نادر فنستعمل فواصل نكتب بها تلك الملاحظات
و ينصح الكتاب الباحثين بعدة نصائح منها عدم الكتابة بأسلوب غامض و ملتوي بكثرة الضمائر بل الكتابة بوضوح حتى و ان اصبح الملل و التكرار سمة النص كما ينصح الكتاب بالعودة إلى البداية و تقليم النص بإستمرار و حذف ما يجب حذفه من ألفاظ و مقاطع غير واضحة و استخدام المشرف كحقل تجارب ليقرأ مسودات العمل تلك و بضرورة التوقف عن تفسير المعلومة المعروفة و ترك المعلومة الغامضة
و الأهم هو تجنب صيغة المفرد في الإطروحة إذ ان الإشارات النصية نوعان إما ان نذكر النص ثم نحلله أو نستخدم النص كسند لتحليل شخصي قمنا به و لا يتوجب ان ننسب فكرة الى مؤلف سبق و ان قام هو بنسبها لمؤلف اخر فهذا يعطي انطباع بأننا نستخدم مصادر درجة ثانية
الكتاب جيد جدا و خاصة لطلبة الماجستير و يُفترض بالطبع الأخذ بنظر الاعتبار الفترة الزمنية التي تم إنتاجه فيها فالعديد من الملاحظات التي وردت فيه بات العمل عليها أقل صعوبة نتيجة لوجود المصادر الإلكترونية و وسائل البحث و الكتابة المتطورة و مع ذلك فهو تمهيد نافع للمبتدئين في البحث العلمي
January 12, 2022
excellent stuff, approachable and sharp and incredibly funny. i don't get the complaints about index cards being outdated. his system can be easily adapted for notion or whatever, come on! i might not follow all of his advice but this was inspiring as it made me rethink my approach to scholarship. his empathy for students intimidated by thesis work for one reason or another shines. never read his fiction but i adore all the non-fiction of his that i've read (mostly from Travels in Hyperreality). reader, i love him. and now on to actually putting pen to paper and following his advice...........
March 27, 2020
Her ne kadar İtalya'da mezuniyet tezi yazacak edebiyat ve feslefe bölümlerindeki lisans öğrencileri için kaleme alınmış olsa da her aşamadaki araştırmacı için oldukça faydalı, yol gösterici bir kaynak. Özellikle lisansüstü öğrencilerine tavsiyemdir.
July 12, 2024
na takovou nudnou příručku je to neskutečnej banger
June 1, 2015
Umberto Eco wrote this book in 1977, after he noticed that increased access to higher education in Italy had created a mass of students who needed to write a thesis to graduate, yet had not received adequate instructions in how to undertake and complete such a project. Perhaps many of these students, from working class backgrounds, felt that to ask about these particulars would reveal the discrepancies between them and their more elite classmates. Eco himself barely mentions the sociological specifics of 1970s Italian higher education, this context is sketched out by Francesco Espamer's foreward, though he is careful to consider and provide advice for working around the limitations students might face when preparing a thesis. Eco also gives exceedingly detailed instructions on how to compile and write a bibliography, how to cite, how to determine if a quotation should be inline or indented, the difference between paraphrasing and plagarism, and other specifics of paper-writing that can strike the well-educated as obvious, and not what they want to learn from the Great Eco. The translators of the English volume have worked hard (it seems- I've never seen the Italian or any other version) to make the bibliographic style examples relevant to contemporary English-language thesis writers. The information is exceedingly useful, though I'm unsure of how well this book would work as a writing guide for most 21st century American university students, since I can easily envision many students getting put off by all the Italian examples and the long chapters on formatting index cards.
But if you can get over how charmingly out-of-date and analog Eco's index card system is, what you are left with is some very helpful advice about how to organize information, a task that has not gotten any easier since the advent of the internet and the even more recent deluge of apps for productivity, brain storming, mind mapping, etc. Eco's focus throughout this book is on how to acquire the information you need, determine it's relevancy to your project, extract what you need from the books you have, and create a project outline that will allow to you start with writing with a framework in mind and the key sources, quotes, and ideas ready to be deployed. Thus prepared, the student can begin to work on his or her thesis methodically, and let inspiration and brilliant flashes of insight emerge from this diligent work.
Eco also touches on the entwined ideas of academic humility and academic pride. Academic humility means never ignoring a potential source because of a preconceived notion of its quality or ideological position, remembering that "anyone can teach us something." Academic pride means taking ownership of your research and your writing, and not burdening it with a thousand small clauses and qualifiers meant to get you off the hook. "On your specific topic, you are humanity's functionary who speaks in the collective voice. Be humble and be prudent before opening your mouth, but once you open it, be dignified and proud." Excellent advice. I read this as part of a curative program for my own 'thesis neurosis' (Eco's term) and I found it quite helpful.
But if you can get over how charmingly out-of-date and analog Eco's index card system is, what you are left with is some very helpful advice about how to organize information, a task that has not gotten any easier since the advent of the internet and the even more recent deluge of apps for productivity, brain storming, mind mapping, etc. Eco's focus throughout this book is on how to acquire the information you need, determine it's relevancy to your project, extract what you need from the books you have, and create a project outline that will allow to you start with writing with a framework in mind and the key sources, quotes, and ideas ready to be deployed. Thus prepared, the student can begin to work on his or her thesis methodically, and let inspiration and brilliant flashes of insight emerge from this diligent work.
Eco also touches on the entwined ideas of academic humility and academic pride. Academic humility means never ignoring a potential source because of a preconceived notion of its quality or ideological position, remembering that "anyone can teach us something." Academic pride means taking ownership of your research and your writing, and not burdening it with a thousand small clauses and qualifiers meant to get you off the hook. "On your specific topic, you are humanity's functionary who speaks in the collective voice. Be humble and be prudent before opening your mouth, but once you open it, be dignified and proud." Excellent advice. I read this as part of a curative program for my own 'thesis neurosis' (Eco's term) and I found it quite helpful.
August 1, 2024
I wish someone made me read this as an undergraduate. Worth it for anyone who is undertaking a significant writing project to read this.
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August 23, 2021Non metto nessuna stellina perché, pur apprezzando la prosa di Eco, il libro e i consigli ivi contenuti sono troppo datati. Ormai il testo è utile per un'indagine archeologica su come si scrivevano le tesi quarant'anni fa. La tecnologia, nel bene e nel male, ha davvero stravolto il modo in cui si fa ricerca, si consultano i testi, si stende una bibliografia, un indice e infine la tesi. Ho trovato interessanti le critiche mosse al sistema universitario italiano, quasi delle profezie, come la concezione di un percorso formativo visto come un "esamificio". Mentre eccessivamente snob alcune considerazioni su ciò che bisogna aspettarsi dagli studenti: l'idea che per realizzare una tesi bisogna conoscere tutto lo scibile umano, padroneggiare 4/5 lingue straniere e sostanzialmente essere abbastanza ricchi per potersi permettere viaggi ed esperienze all'estero, unico modo per poter puntare all'eccellenza. Lo studente meno abbiente dovrà invece essere relegato a un livello di perpetua mediocrità, la sua tesi sarà buona solo per trovare un altrettanto mediocre posto fisso (romantica comunque l'idea che alla discussione della tesi segua necessariamente e naturalmente il trovarsi un lavoro). Non rimpiango di averlo letto, ma credo che ormai non sia più un testo di riferimento.
January 17, 2019
I myself used to feel not ready for writing a thesis ( not something formal, for the sake of diploma of course; but real research work with decent outcomes). The thing making this situation even worse was the unawareness about the process and generally the lack of sources depicting it thoroughly, as a result, it was looking like an iceberg waiting for me in the future that I wasn`t capable of facing with.
However, thanks to this very book, I am extremely confident that it is not an enormous job to do at once, but small steps (but you have to be very disciplined!) that need to be followed in order to submit such research that you will maybe refer it in your later publications. For sure, it is possible that it won`t be the best work in your academic career, but at least you won`t be ashamed about it.
However, thanks to this very book, I am extremely confident that it is not an enormous job to do at once, but small steps (but you have to be very disciplined!) that need to be followed in order to submit such research that you will maybe refer it in your later publications. For sure, it is possible that it won`t be the best work in your academic career, but at least you won`t be ashamed about it.
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