Dear Handan, I promised to type you about problems with my thesis… I couldn’t do it in the very moment, because I was really tired after my work (busy day
) and I knew I couldn’t tell you this in one word. So, I’m starting my long story now…
Well, I was working on my thesis 10 years ago but remember it as if it was yesterday
.
So many emotions accompanies writing thesis!!! So, don’t worry! You are not the only person who has some problems with a topic…
The topic was proposed to me by one (already died) professor, who had been dreaming that some student would take the topic one day… So, I wanted to be the student because I appreciated the professor a lot…
It was:
“ Good shepherd in early Christian art and its ancient pedigreeâ€â€¦
Well, at first I was very enthusiastic about my thesis, because it concerned all things I always loved: the art, the religion, the history, archeology… (It was really interdisciplinary subject!)
But, when I started searching bibliography for it, I stopped believing in it… Believe me, there weren’t any Polish literature about the subject in local libraries, except some dictionary, encyclopedia, lexicon entries… I was very disappointed with it. The Internet wasn't so common in Poland in those days and I didn't use it at all...
But, I still liked the subject…
Well, my first year of studies I did far away from my home in Lublin at our Polish “Catholic University†(KUL with very high level of teaching and prestige) and then I had to move to GdaÅ„sk University (financial reasons). But, I still had many friends on KUL, also from other disciplines, for example “history of artâ€. So, I asked them for some help (because my subject was very into the art). Then, one of the friends (Ania) gave me an email to one of her doctor of art history. People at KUL usually are very friendly and helpful. The doctor was also fantastic. I typed to her asking for some help with finding bibliography to my thesis. Before, I got know that her doctoral dissertation was about Catacombs of Rome and art motives in them… BTW the main and the most common motif in walls of catacombs was just a “good shepherd†… !!!
I got the dissertation from my friend. And I found there some titles of books that had become a base of the dissertation. But I could also notice that the most of them were in German, French, Italian and some in English… In this time my English was much worse than now (though it is still not perfect
), I knew Italian on medium level and didn’t know German and French at all. So I asked the doctor to show me some Polish works on the subject. She typed my email back, what was a real surprise for me (I didn’t believe she would find some time for a student of Gdańsk University, and not “history of art†student, but “Classical Philology†one!). She told me there weren’t many Polish books saying exactly about a “good shepherd†in art, but there was some literature in which we could find some chapters about the subject. But the books were not available in every Polish library, only in Cracow and in Lublin (KUL LIBRARY – one of the biggest in Poland). She told me to come to her and that she would show me the literature with a pleasure. But she didn’t know I live in Gdynia (about 600 km from Lublin)… So I answered her that I could visit KUL during my winter break on studies. She agreed.
Moreover, one of my friend in Lublin agreed to leave me her flat for a week to live in it, because she was going to Warsaw to her boyfriend and she wanted somebody lived there during her absence. It was fantastic goodwill gesture from her side I think… So, I came to Lublin and met the doctor. We went to the library of KUL together (3-4 floors of it) and we were running around the floors to look for the books for me!!! She devoted so much time to me then! I was so grateful. I have made some copies of the foreign studies of the subject and I concentrated on Polish books that they were the old ones and not allowed to be borrowed… I spent every day in the library… Met many people who also helped me in my searches! I was so lucky one! So friendly people I met there… It was a great time for me, Handyy. I started fascinating my thesis once again…
The English and Italian ones were translated by my own, what about the German and French ones - I asked some other students translate them…
I found the subject even more interesting than I had thought before. Finally, I found a lot of literature about the subject. I also got know I could develop it (and to write my doctoral dissertation) discussing the motif of “good shepherd†not only in art but also in literature(starting from the ancient mythologies such as Greek, Roman, Japan, India mythology… and Bible of course)
So, “don’t give up†is my motto… Sometimes one think can be seemed as difficult or not possible, but most of them aren’t like we think at all… Think about it, dear. Hope I was able to make you more believing and enthusiastic person despite of any problems…
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