Proposal Away!

I just sent a "finished" draft of my dissertation proposal/Chapter One to my advisor. With any luck he'll like the draft, won't suggest any major changes, and convene a meeting of my dissertation committee to make sure everyone is on board with my approach. As most of the members of my committee are at least somewhat familiar with my work, I don't anticipate any major problems. Still, it's always prudent to proceed with a bit of skepticism. As with any research project, there are bound to be numerous discussions regarding theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and writing styles. Realistically, while this is a formal draft it isn't the final version.

Here's a sample paragraph from the introduction of my proposal:

In The self after postmodernity, C. Schrag (1997) adds his voice to the reclamation of the de-centered and dislocated self-as-subject. Agreeing with the postmodern critique of the self as essence or pre-ontological substance, he refuses to discard the notion of self altogether. Schrag states, “In the aftermath of the deconstruction of traditional metaphysics and epistemology, a new self emerges, like the phoenix arising from its ashes--a praxis oriented self, defined by its communicative practices, oriented toward an understanding of itself in its discourse, its action, its being with others . . .” (p. 9). Contesting the traditional placement of the rhetor as the originating source of subjectivity for both self and other, Schrag suggests a reconceptualization that transforms rhetoric from “being-to-and-for-the-other” into a rhetoric of “being-with-others” (p. 77). The reclamation of the self-as-subject through the constitutive nature of rhetorical performance is the focal point of this essay.

Bring on Chapter Two! w00t!