Everything interesting I learned in my first year as a literature student

[@strange.lucidity]

Wow, y'all I can't keep up with the flood of comments this video is bringing in ❤ I had no idea this would reach so many people. I usually try to respond to everyone personally but I'll have to give up on this one. I want you to know though that I do read and appreciate every single on of them. I'm incredibly touched and humbled by your comments and so glad that the video resonates. Thanks for the support, the kindness you show me and the boost of motivation. I truly have the best audience ever. More coming soon! Sending much love to all of you!

[@andreskilidjian960]

Time fixis everything 🤣 wish you joy

[@SLP8041]

One of the most interesting videos I have seen on literature on KZbin! I am 73 and just started reading classical literature, poetry, and philosophy. I really wish I had started at your age. Thank you for your insights. I just subscribed to your channel. 💕🌷🌷

[@strange.lucidity]

🙏🏻

[@jiminpark1222-dj4fx]

never too late to start

[@dot4207]

@SLP8041, given your wealth of life experiences, you have a unique perspective that can deeply connect with the text. This will make for an enriching experience that few others can enjoy. You can still thoroughly enjoy literature!

[@jianhongtian5472]

Very good ❤

[@jiminpark1222-dj4fx]

I am 17 and I love to walk in libraries because those places always make me realize how short my life is because I am never able to read all the great works of human beings before I die.

[@isacalliari512]

omg yes! I'm 16 and I feel a lot like Sylvia Plath when she says she feels horribly limited by never being able to read all the books she wants or live all the lives she wants

[@ruskinyruskiny1611]

@@isacalliari512 I am 68 got 3000 books. My advice read only positive books. William James not Henry for a start. To much "Literature" gives a far blacker picture of life than it really is.

[@isacalliari512]

@@ruskinyruskiny1611 thanks for the advice :) I hope I can read as many books as you someday

[@KutiYusif]

Wow! That is philosophical

[@taylornewman3432]

I say this with all the appreciation/compassion in the world, but your love and interest in the small intricacies of literature convinced me not to get a degree in literature. I love writing! I so enjoy talking about books! But I got about 10 minutes into this video and I realized I understood what you were saying, that it was so valuable, and yet for me personally I could not picture myself spending years of my life studying stuff like this because I was already bored. Thank you for sharing! Your energy is so uplifting, and I appreciate you saving me from another grad school application season.

[@hollydaugherty2620]

🤣

[@Isayagi]

I’d happily watch a 1 hour video for each “lesson” you listed on this video. Very excited to keep learning more about your studies!

[@AndyD72]

Found this so compelling I decided to return to an English literature degree with the Open University I'd abandoned 15 years ago, so thank you for that.

[@jae_pmin]

How's it going so far?

[@chiklachikla7641]

​@@jae_pmin like always they never give updates

[@jae_pmin]

@chiklachikla7641 That's completely fine. We don't owe strangers on the internet anything 😂 much less updates. i just put the question out there

[@simon.voggeneder]

Thanks again Maria for letting us take part in your studies in such a detailled way. I wish you all the best for your move to Paris and am looking very much forward to your videos from there!

[@strange.lucidity]

Thank you so much for your support all the time 🙏🏻

[@RacielLopezTorrez]

I entered looking for content in English because I study the language and I have fallen in love with the content itself. THANK YOU. A big hug.

[@tonylong525]

Can't remember a more enjoyable/perplexing hour spent online. I'm currently working on a novel (not too post-modernist, I hope) and you have me completely intimidated. I think I'll take today off and go for a long walk.

[@strange.lucidity]

Your comment totally made my day!

[@turntablesrockmyworld9315]

Thanks for the video, I'm a male in my 50s and have a love of literature. Most of friends read almost nothing. So, it is nice to listen to someone like yourself with a passion for good books. I wish I had more time to read and think about it. This was a nice overview -and distraction!

[@from_anastasiya]

The way you tell most beautiful things not only made my day, but I fear my life too. I love this part of internet and I'm so grateful for this format. So gentle, beautiful and interesting, thank you (from a girl living in a beautiful city by the sea in Ukraine)

[@seansmith7256]

It's clear that you truly understood what you learned, because of the clarity of your speech. This is my first time on your channel. You've inspired me. Thank you.

[@РоманПаляниця-к5э]

This is the second video on your channel that I've watched this day, and again I want to write a comment to support the channel and say thanks for an interesting video!

[@strange.lucidity]

So kind! I appreciate it a lot 🙏🏻

[@orlascott6677]

Wow, this was such an insightful and soothing watch! I especially enjoyed your comments about not having to have read everything to join a conversation-I think that‘s so helpful for any humanities student to hear:) keep on making videos, this was awesome!

[@reemssss]

I am a mid 30's woman, from the other side of the world, english is not even my mother language, and I happen to randomly click on your video because of how beautiful the cover picture was. I did not expect to enjoy my time this much watching 45 minutes video! The topics you covered, the quotes, your voice, the whole atmosphere brought me to a whole other level of ecstacy! I'm so thankful for the coincidence that brought me here, and very happy to subscribe to you! Thank you ❤

[@HaseebDaulat]

I love you

[@strange.lucidity]

This makes me so happy! Welcome ❤

[@michaelm7823]

When I watched this the first time there were under 10K subscribers. Now as I write a few days later...11.8K! The way you eloquently covered so many interesting angles of your year, of literature. I took careful notes. I learned. I was inspired. I can't wait for the next one!

[@Ssskdjdbdbebz]

My favourite video! I was looking for something like that. My eternal longing and unfulfilled ambition to study literature has been satisfied. Thank you!

[@giovanaanselmo9885]

This is very beautiful. I am a Journalism student in Brazil and reading is my favourite thing, so I'm really interested in literature as well. I watched this while taking notes. I'm yet to watch your other videos, but I hope you do more in this format. Thank you for the amazing insights!

[@Liriodelagua]

Thank you for the effort you put into this video. These type of discussions make me feel like I should be quiet and let the intelligent people talk, but in the end I can still get something valuable or interesting or thought provoking out of it. In this case, I liked the part about the reader's limitations and how one can picture a recipe for miscommunication between the, say, shortcommings between the two sides. Anyways, I hope your voice gets better!

[@lucyleadbeater7081]

Thank you for that extremely thoughtful video, Maria! It has given me a ton of food for thought. It must be a pleasure for your professors to have such a perceptive student to teach.

[@strange.lucidity]

🙏🏻Such a kind comment. That means a lot to me!

[@AhadSabir-oh1lo]

In the beginning of this year i realize how much i love literature and love reading, and one of my dreams now is studying literature, Thank for this beautiful video it's really beautiful to see someone talk passionately about literature in this way

[@marosariogarcia5228]

This is such an interesting, insightful video from one so young compared to my age! Thank you. I'm asked to teach again a course on World Literature, after several years, simply because aside from having the credentials, I have always been passionate about reading, and teaching, the classics. Yet, I find myself, after listening to you, needing to read/re-read, and update a semester's course syllabus on some masterpieces...

[@senkronkaymasi]

The algorithm decided to show this video to me, and I think it's a very nice coincidence. I myself have studied English Literature but I am working in an unrelated job right now. Your ruminations about all these things that I have learned about 10 years ago have awakened me from my dogmatic slumber 😊 I will watch your work on my free time from now on, thank you.

[@DrGBhas]

Maria, you are a tower of inspiration for all of us who adore and celebrate art in every form. Your insights on comparative literature are like rare gems for the mind's eye . I hope that one day, you might consider writing a book about literature so that everyone regardless of their specialty or expertise, would be able to catch a glimpse of the vastness and vision in this field. Thankyou.

[@strange.lucidity]

Thank you so much for saying all this. It means the world 🙏🏻

[@bookoffholicbookwart5945]

Everything about this video is fantastic. From the pace to the narrative style, absolutely in love. New to ur channel and I'm so gappy to have found it

[@LizziebelleXOX]

Thank you Maria for sharing & creating this super informative video. I love hearing all about your literature studies, it’s so interesting, I have taken lots of notes. Have a wonderful day 🤍☕️🫖🕊️

[@strange.lucidity]

Aw it means a lot to me that you're writing all this. Sending you a big hug 🙏🏻✨

[@ScottChamberlain-j9m]

OK, say, can we just take a moment to coalesce in our collective witnessing Maria take things to a whole new level of accomplishment in this video. Thank you Maria

[@ScottChamberlain-j9m]

You should take a drop of water when lecturing for that long my dear!

[@strange.lucidity]

Oh, thank you so much ❤

[@davidevans9194]

I have just watched this video, and found it interesting, insightful, and enlightening. Subsequently I took a look at the topics for your other posts. I look forward to setting aside some time to consider a few more. Thank you Maria, keep them coming.

[@deeznameless]

This is without any doubts, the most interesting video of any type I have seen on KZbin in a long, long time. Good job and thank you.

[@liwencas]

I loved this video so much!! I'm a year and a half into my own degree and I relate so much to the passion with which you speak of yours, it's definitely contagious and has made me all that much eager to learn more. Literature has always interested me, and now that I'm getting more into it I'm really grateful for finding your channel. I found really lovely and interesting how much knowledge and new perspectives you gained in this year alone, and i'm really glad you decided to share it for people like me to find. Best of wishes and thank you for sharing your passion with the world

[@minacamoglu1419]

Amazing content, thank you! I am a literature student as well and I enjoyed coming across some common insights we both have gotten from the courses (besides the ones that are new to me, of course!).

[@kelen6240]

I genuinely would love to keep listening to you all my life talking about literature :)

[@vertamande7732]

Thank you so much! I really enjoy this video! Can you eventually make a list of - books mentionned in the video -books you read this year for uni - books of theory/philosophy for student/beginner that you recommended? Sorry for my poor english, i’m French ;) Your Channel is a true treasure in KZbin, thank you so much ❤❤❤

[@JOSECABARCAS-p5y]

Thank you for the effort, time and passion you put to your work. I enjoyed very much listening your thoughts about literature while working in the office. Wish you the best on your career!

[@artlesscalamity]

Subbed. This is the kind of stuff I’ve been looking for on this platform. Your points are well-presented and interesting (nice speaking voice), and your enthusiasm is apparent without being performative. In another life I would have loved to stay in academia and pursue lit studies, and now that I’m in my 40s I’m finding myself wanting to rekindle that spark, seek some greater meaning or solace in this increasingly weird world. Your comments about Virginia Woolf inspired me to go back to her and dig deeper into her work, as someone who is kind of (neurotically) obsessed with time. Great video, looking forward to more.

[@timelston4260]

I enjoyed that. You made me nostalgic for university and made me feel intellectual again. I loved your comment that the battle between fiction and non-fiction lies within you. So, in me. And your musings about postmodernism--well said!

[@strange.lucidity]

🙏🏻

[@federicoalmada254]

Hi. I am using your videos to improve my English skills too. You have a very kind voice and your rhythm is perfect. I am Uruguayan living in Australia. Thanks.

[@estherrheinheimer1638]

How welcomed your pace of narrative was. I felt I was sitting next to you having a conversation, cause even some of the subjects you mentioned are common to things tha struck me. I also couldn't see myself NOT taking that course on literature and time 🗿 Also, what a nice idea of a video! Can't wait to watch the rest of the channel :P

[@AngloSaks666]

I like that part from Virginia Woolf that basically lists the months to get to the next year. It reminded me tangentially of the movie 'Down By Law' by Jim Jarmusch, where they say 'let's break out' (they're in prison), and the next shot is them running away from the prison. None of the long, complex, clever planning and implementing and nearly getting caught of so many other prison escape stories. This then reminds me of some nice punk rock guitar solos, e.g. 'Boredom' by the Buzzcocks, or 'Party With Me Punker' by the Minutemen: basically two notes instead of all the frilly nonsense, all the wasteful, distracting froth, of those 'guitar heros'. Clean and to the point and somehow inviting a beautifully direct kind of engagement and perception.

[@TheBestRandomDuo]

I think we would be good friends

[@lidivaljunior192]

I began searching for contents about literature, and i have found some interesting channels, some about books of classical literature and others nowadays literature, pretty cool channels and now your channel came in, i subscribed your Channel, very good channel, by the way, the name of your channel, Strange Lucidity, is very interesting, make us think, i am from Brasil, and want to speak english, you speak in a kind way that i can follow you, i speak portuguese, so you speak so cool i can understand, thanks for sharing with us that channel, when i watch your channel it makes me want to read more lierature, books, i am learning english, thank you for improve my english and learn about literature. 💯🇧🇷 new subscribed from Brasil.

[@daretowin5370]

The most wonderful video I've come across on Literature ❤️ Keep going ✨

[@NohaKitsune]

This is such a helpful video and it also inspired me to reflect deeply on what I’ve learned in Uni because I did reflect on each year at the time so I feel like I missed a crucial step to actually getting a deeper understanding of what I learned and studied

[@gilraen9803]

You quickly became one of my favourite channels on this platform. I found you thanks to your videos about Faust (I hope soon we can go further with the next parts of the book!) and I just had to stay. This video was absolutely delightful and made me so happy - really. Thank you for this!

[@tulipan16]

This is what I needed❤❤❤ thank you. Love your love for language and literature

[@harman0809]

Loved every bit of this video! Thanks Maria!!

[@nadeemsial7299]

such a great way of illustration to English literature with soft musical accent of femininity, such a amazing , I listen it for my music desire .

[@sighbees]

I'm almost 27 and plan to go back to school for english literature. I love this video so much, thank you for sharing your insights and info you learned

[@tomjiang8108]

what a knowledgable and elegant lady, good job, thanks

[@karenthue8978]

Ååå du får meg til å savne litteraturstudiene. 🥺Takk for nydelig video. Jeg satte stor pris på alle dine refleksjoner. Så fint at professoren din ga deg slike gode råd, det er det ikke all som får. Jeg tror mange studenter kjenner på alt de ikke kan, selv om de er på universitetet nettopp for å lære. Gleder meg til å se flere av videoene dine! ❤

[@demonchildofwar]

I'd love to hear more on The Magic Mountain! I've had it on my shelves for 10 years. Started it once but didn't get far. Very happy to have found your channel. 🖤

[@whyimsmarterthanyou]

Ah, I went off to uni in my early 30s as well. Such a wonderful and enriching adventure. I have no doubt that those classes and tutorials, not to mention the pastoral setting of the campus, resonated more at that relatively advanced age than had I meandered into a degree program in my late teens and early twenties. Best of luck!

[@johnmorales4601]

Maria, I love knowing that there is someone who is as passionate about literature as you are, as I am. Watching you going through your observations during your first year in Vienna, discussing topics such as Flaubert and parallel editing I found to be totally fascinating. Discussions on time, language and perspective really hit the mark for me too. No wonder I’ve fallen in love with you!😊👍🙏

[@ScottChamberlain-j9m]

One of my favourite Authors, particularly with it being descriptive of the 19th century is Charles Dickens. I find myself going back to different historical contexts for the roots and Earth of our present context and dispositions, this gives me goosebumps in knowing the prolifacy of periods. French Revolutionary stuff grips me tightly too. I find readings rooted in the here and now, or even the nearly now, leave me disoriented because I can't distance myself from the immediate survey of our present time sufficiently enough to not be permanently questioning the very definition and substance of our now without wanting to argue the definition on offer in whatever writing. We all sound now now in our own light, but a prior epoch or era has a certain narrative for our concepts and internalisation already agreed upon, a compass bearing with noted and understood circumstances. An essay I received full marks for in my final year of Secondary school was a comparative essay discussing Great Expectations without, far from it, finishing reading it all & contrasting this book with an offering from Laurie Lee called Cider with Rosie, a very milky, pale offering indeed, and a contribution that I spurned reading it at all. So, getting such a high grade made me feel it was OK to not finish these huge tomes without the World crashing in upon us, when we are able to respond beautifully to both the bits we have read but also the comparative connective tissues between renowned works of literature, provided you have a response worthy of being read by other readers of those books

[@normanleach5427]

We needn't define our existence as merely a series of 'metaphors', nor perceive and unwittingly limit our life as strictly self-proclaimed 'readers'. There's a deeper reason why I highly recommend your site. First and foremost, one's qualitative rapport with the whole of Life leads us on to openly express what liberates the dignity of each individual. I strongly suspect that through simple acts of kindness -- as with your willingness to share a myriad of insights -- that you will have arrived amist such profundity as to reflect the esoteric immediacy of All This on a broader stage.

[@apfsl]

Really interesting the chess metaphor. also, such a delightful uni wrap-up :)

[@andreskilidjian960]

Que fantástica y admirable! First time watching your work... You have so much to offer!! ❤

[@jannathimu4839]

One of those rare videos that luck favors me to stumble upon once in a moon that I absolutely end up adoring. There's just so comforting about the ambience that you brought in the talk. Lord I love, love and love this video.

[@bendjeddouhanane5911]

I really enjoyed your video for me more like attending a lecture at university, Can't wait for more 👍

[@BadLuckLuke]

Extraordinary clip, bravo 🪴

[@LavenderLiu-p9g]

The video is so inspiring! Please keep updating💞 I hope there would be more videos like this in the future🤩

[@nickshark-wd3ne]

Wow this video flew by. Very insightful

[@tahaelamineterkihassaine550]

Thank you. Very interesting video. I am learning a lot off things especially about your very easy explanation about literature. You have give me a huge for it.

[@nandhiniarumugam6477]

Thank you so much for creating this video

[@TheLinguistsLibrary]

Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics is a wonderful book, so glad you mentioned it.

[@frog_from_frogland]

It's pleasure to listen to you, thank you

[@YellowSunStar]

So interesting and well explained! Thank you ❤

[@lewannabestar]

i love this video so much. im in the final year of my literature degree and the fact that ill no longer be a student next year is so haunting. watching you talk about bits of everything you've learnt makes me want to back to my notes and journals and cherish the time i have left here and all look forward to all the years that can be spent learning afterwards. bless u

[@strange.lucidity]

Aw that's incredible! Thanks for sharing and I'm sending you a big hug!

[@mansijain6960]

I’d love to see you make a video showing us your notes

[@strange.lucidity]

I might do that one day :D

[@gabrielv3575]

@Strange Lucidity thank you for this video. Very easy and pleasant to follow. I enjoy your content, please continue to make more. You are a very interesting and enjoyable human being. I write poetry at the moment, and am going to start a Creative Writing program online soon. Cheers!

[@joelharris4399]

Hi Maria! I hope you are enjoying your summer in Vienna. Not just the voluminous books you're diving into on the deep end of things, but, the lit outdoors where the sun is monarch of all. I am familiar with the University of Vienna because Thomas Higham, a distinguished archaeological scientist and author of the book, "The World Before US" is now based there at your school's Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, after having been Oxford University's former director of the Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (we can thank Brexit for that and the now ousted conservatives). Yes, I am familiar with Ferdinand de Saussure, how he basically considered language as a system in flux arranged around the concepts signs and signification. I read about it in my introductory English Cultural Studies courses at McGill University. But I don't think he has the final word on that particular subject, philosophy of language. Academic philosophers I suspect hold a more complex, sophisticated understanding of language, one less essentialist. I would caution those looking at the video to exercise caution when choosing to discuss a book that is unread, the equivalent of talking at length about a movie you have not watched in the cinema. You can potentially end up in muddy waters when in conversation with connoisseurs of literature, literature buffs (nerds), even BookTubers who review and discuss books because they get paid to do so. Try reading Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (1994) without having tackled any of the canonical books he discusses. It can be painfully difficult to follow, very awkward, and cumbersome, especially when coming across unfamiliar jargon and literary terms. That's what the experience would be like without having a conversation with someone.

[@अज्ञेय-र3ब]

What a coincidence, i got your video on my newsfeed and tomorrow i am going to finish my master in English literature. I can't describe this weird feeling, i feel like i became what i read, what i have experienced through that literature is literally shaping my personality like before, but i was never much conscious about that. But studying literature gave me variations of new perspectives to look into things. And i am sure to say that if someone doesn't study literature will never know what they are going to miss in life.

[@ornleifs]

I totally get what you were saying about learning languages that are close to the one you know - I'm Icelandic and learned Danish in school as a kid and teenager but today I'm never really certain if a word I'm thinking of is actually Danish or just my creation of an Icelandic word that I make to sound like Danish.

[@qlimponx]

What a honey. I would love to get coffee with this remarkable beauty. Her voice strikes the chord of my soul.

[@zzflvr]

That's so cool! Just subscribed

[@alexpapasi61]

This was beautiful to watch! I learned so much from you!

[@МариаДуревя]

i needed this so bad. My dream is to study literature in Vienna, i was slowly giving up on this dream of mine. For some reason you helped. More specifically, my name is Maria as well. And you're living my dream, girl. Thank you

[@alfredsams9059]

Maria your introduction to literature was awesome. Your articulation on the subject is fascinating. You can make people fall in love with literature. I feel you must become a lecturer or professor of literature.. im a masters degree holdee in literature and and i learnt somethings from your engaging talk. More power to you. Keep dpong more videos.thank you for enlightenment

[@strange.lucidity]

Thank you so much 🙏🏻

[@ayotundeayoko5861]

fascinating. thanks for this video! subscribed!

[@naomihatneithem1085]

From the video title to the end of words ♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@eflat6522]

I was a first year English Literature student in 1980, (I did two years in a community college first), and spent that first year reading vol. 1 and 2 of the Norton Anthology of English Literature and vol. 1 and 2 of the Norton Anthology of American Literature. The second year, my actual senior year, it got more interesting, especially in my rhetoric class.

[@SM-ef7yp]

I gotta say that in Poland he (Thomas Bernhardt) recently became huge and has a huge influence on younger prose writers. I like the most his novel called Woodcutters, it feels like a more radical version of Gombrowicz’s writing.

[@tagore5542]

Hello Maria, good morning! This video is very cool. It's very pedagogical. Thanks!

[@HatemsReviews]

this video makes me feel overwhelmed 💖💖

[@Masood-w7h]

U devoted ur precious years of young life to literature. Can u summarise in few lines what is the role of literature for the betterment of our life?

[@Azulblue-g2h]

Literally I stopped the video on 5:49 because I realize I should take some notes about this. Like I just saw 5 minutes of it and made me think so hard

[@daianapardo6143]

Beautiful video! ❤ Im so happy that I found your channel. Love the joke about "Pierre Menard". Hugs from Argentina!

[@liamvisser01]

Thanks for sharing your main takeaways of your first year literature studies! I'm so pleased to have found your channel some months ago, your videos truly re-energized my desire to read again (in this case you were one of the main sources of inspiration for me to gather the courage needed to take on Faust!). There's one question on my mind though after having followed your channel for quite some time now: have you ever taken up the challenge of writing a novel yourself by any chance? I would be very much interested knowing more about that process and how you approached the entire project😊

[@worrellrobinson4332]

Congrats 🎉🎉🎉 this has been an amazing look into literature , continue to learn teach enjoy the work that literature gives, kind regards Mr Robinson...

[@Cevin.]

I love your videos, keep going!

[@flowers4abi]

as a beginner english student, i loved how i could recognize in this video so many of the things i had previously learned in my courses. thank you so much for the quality content! 🩷

[@ДарьяРудакова-к5и]

Loved this one a lot! Thank you!

[@velascoescreve]

I loved watching this! ❤

[@hase9227]

omg!! Ich wünschte ich hätte dieses Video vor einem Jahr gesehen - hab zwischen Sprachwissenschaft und Vergleichende geschwankt, bin jetzt bei Sprachwissenschaft aber füll meine ECs mit Literaturwissenschaft. Uni Wien ftw!!

[@shrouuuq]

It’s a stunning video we would like to see more of this kind of stuff, keep it up ❤❤❤

[@vbiosfera]

Can you share something about the magic mountain and what one should know before reading it? Your passion is infectious :)

[@padmeasmr]

Lovely video, I studied philosophy and acting and love literature ofc, I am currently working at newspaper but I want to do a PhD truly and a channel about philosophy mostly. Thanks for the inspiration ❤

[@shellycottrell433]

Wow ❤ you’re a super star ⭐️so elated to have found your content thank you 🙏 😊

[@themildrumpus]

I discovered your channel through this video. Happy Reading! 😎📚👍

[@gil_7038]

Your voice sounds amazing.

[@blankname5177]

39:19 Very self reflective. I never thought about not liking post modern stuff that way. I always thought its way of writing (valid way) that doesn't appeal to me like there are genre that doesn't appeal to me.