Källvatten och kartläggningar

Om materialinsamling, urval och teoretiska översvämningar

Abstract

In this article I reflect on the data collection in my dissertation project, as a process of searching and gathering, using Gilles Deleuze's and Félix Guattari’s definition of rhizomatic thinking. In the article, I discuss some of the challenges of working with a literary motif as a common denominator in my material, as opposed to selection criteria that are easier to identify and catalogue, for example genre, time period, authorship and so on. I also examine the challenges and opportunities it entails to be working with literary genres as well as fields of research which are still emerging and which are expanding and developing at great speed, for example climate fiction and research about climate fiction. Finally, I also discuss the delimitations of the material, the motives behind them and their consequences for the project.