Talking about Krautrock has become a more "positive" project, as I'm less out to "expose" problematic forms of identity construction and more interested in showcasing a music and national identity construction that I'm "fond of." The questions then become more about how my project connects to my academic field -- American Studies -- and what exactly I want to argue about Krautrock. Having even more academic freedom than I had in moving from dissertation to book also poses different challenges. For a while, I thought of writing a trade book about Krautrock, targeting a non-academic audience. I have moved away from this idea a bit, although I'm still interested in writing something less inscrutable than an academic book. This blog might help me develop something like that. The three months I will spend in Germany next spring will hopefully too.
Going "home" to deepen my understanding of Krautrock shows another difference between my current project and my first book. While there was some reflection on listening to blues as a teenager and while one of the chapters of my book dealt with Germany (which also meant that I traveled back to my home country to conduct archival research), the personal connection with Krautrock is much more immediate. I have already learned this in different ways. Looking at old music magazines at the Pop Music Archive in Bremen last summer, I came across an issue I had owned when I was ten and that I had read so often that I still remembered every image in it. Also, although I didn't really know or listen to much of the music I now study when I was younger, I was the singer of a band in Hamburg for a few years before I moved to the U.S., and the music of this band (even my own contributions) have some striking resemblances in particular to the music of Krautrock group Can. Why that is when none of us was even remotely interested in any Krautrock at the time is still something I would like to find out.
The "Sophomore Slump" is actually a cognitive and statistical bias called "regression to the mean." It's not you, it's perception. Moreover, when recalling previous projects, it's easier to remember the more recent part (outcome) than what it was like just after the inception when all the work, re-work, and occasional roadblocks or tedium involved. Just do your thing and give yourself permission to continue for a while, even if you feel unfocused or mediocre. That's what research and revision are for.
ReplyDeleteAs for Krautrock's relationship to American Studies or forming an argument, those things come later. The integration of thoughts and knowledge takes time and continuing input. I am absolutely positive those things will be a part of your work because they are a part of your perspective. Maybe the argument is that Krautrock is very much a conversation with American culture or reaction against it or whatever else, but it seems that the full argument should and will come later, as other things happen first.
It's great that you noticed one thing: the focus on exposing problems or misconceptions about a genre or period is an effective strategy for some investigations but probably not for this one. Honestly, with so much academic theory being focused on the critical and often negative views of whatever is being explored, it's nice to have a change of pace. But it's also fantastic that you seem to be avoiding overcompensating by declaring that Krautrock is the pinnacle of musical achievement or other excessively loving treatment, as that's dishonest and uninteresting for everyone including you. I think if you just keep following the idea and the research you'll find what needs to be said about Krautrock and what *you* need to say about Krautrock because the music and the history will make those things apparent as you spend time with them.
So, um, yeah (the girl says as she quits procrastinating and goes back to working on the project that's obscenely and embarrassingly behind and *really shouldn't be that hard* but apparently is).
Hey, thanks for the feedback! It is true that research often involves not knowing what you're really doing for a long time... and fortunately I'm in an academic environment where that's an accepted view and it's not all about immediate "outcomes"... I'll keep digging! Good luck on your project!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're at our university and I'm really excited to follow your work on this. We must also investigate ways to share some awesome mixtapes, as I believe this is just fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat's better about our particular academic community is that there seems a particular interest in American culture as seen or processed by or in opposition to foreign perceptions of American culture (I'm mostly thinking of Dr. Sandeen's interest in the Cold War era behind the Iron Curtain as an excellent way to compare and contrast that era of both American and Soviet history). I think you should have extra departmental excitement for your project with this in mind.
More, though, I heavily identify with the feeling of not being able to find the groove on a new project and gain momentum. This is a hard thing to go through, and I think the internal feelings of frustration or lack of focus are worse than most external things associated with starting something new. Often, it's the biggest barrier of any likely to be encountered in humanities research and writing, often because it's so fluid and invisible. But that also means that you've the most power over overcoming that barrier and other challenges are generally more concrete and conducive to specific response. So I just wanted to say that this is the hardest part of a hard project (hard due to placement after a big success, not due to subject matter or something) and you are more than up to the challenge. You may feel better already (as even a great night of sleep can significantly increase one's supply of optimism) but I thought I'd do some cheerleading anyway. Because there's no significant downside to saying nice things that are true, and if there is a downside I will perhaps ignore it :)
Of course you are right about the road blocks in working on any kind of academic project in the humanities -- in my case, there is a general acceptance that research takes time and that teaching and service for the academic program sometimes overshadow research, at least during a busy semester. So while I'm still listening to music and reading books (right now on Bowie and Berlin, incidentally...), I have all the excuses in the world to take some time off in thinking about my topic. It's always present to some degree though, and even in teaching classes on seemingly unrelated topics one can get new ideas -- or in chatting with people (as you note, the focus on transnational post-war issues indeed connects my interests with those of Eric, who is not just a wonderful mentor but also a colleague in the best sense of the word). So, thanks for your encouragement and your interest!
ReplyDeleteOh, and you know the saying "The advice we give others is the advice that we ourselves need" ? Yeah, this is a lot of what I was doing here so don't think I'm pretending to be wise (and ending up being quite condescending) while not vigorously working on doing this myself.
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