Comparative Literature (MA) - 2013/2014 entry
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Overview
This programme offers you an opportunity to engage critically with the study of comparative literature. The primary focus is on English-, French-, German-, Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking cultures, and while we welcome students able to work in these and other languages, you may work exclusively through the medium of English.
You will have the opportunity to develop your understanding of key critical concepts associated with the comparative study of literature and cultures, such as literary history and the canon, genre, theme, influence, intertexuality and translation across genre and media. You will gain practical experience of working with these concepts in your reading of texts. You will also be given a grounding in twentieth- and twenty-first century literary theory, exploring its development in a cross-cultural context and investigating how it can change the way we read texts and the cultures that produced them.
Option modules give you the opportunity to engage with specific aspects of comparative literature in more depth and/or explore comparative literature in the context of a variety of different historical, philosophical or cultural frameworks.
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Why study this course at Birkbeck?
- Explore literature from a comparative perspective and in the context of other cultural forms.
- Examine the ways in which literary and cultural theories can change how we read cultures and the texts they produce.
- Courses taught in English by subject specialists from a variety of language areas.
- Ideal if you wish to embark on doctoral research, further your career prospects (particularly in arts-related fields), or build on a personal interest.
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Course structure
You will take two ten-week core modules: Understanding Theory; and Reading Across Cultures.
Understanding Theory familiarises you with a variety of theoretical perspectives, allowing you to explore theoretical and literary-critical concepts and enables you to work with them in your analysis of texts.
In each session of Reading Across Cultures, we take two or more texts from different cultures as our starting point and read them in relation to one another, focusing on a particular critical method and/or theoretical approach appropriate to the comparative study of literature.
A range of option modules are available, although not all are offered in any one year. Sample option modules include:
- Cultures of Sensibility
- Negotiating Gender
- Time, Memory and the Novel
- Urban Spaces in Modern Cultures
- The Uncanny.
Option modules may also be taken from cognate MA programmes, including some which allow you to work with materials in French, German, Portuguese and/or Spanish.
You will also take a 10-week research skills module and produce a 15,000-word dissertation.
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Study resources
You will have access to outstanding specialist libraries, including the collection of the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies at Senate House.
The departments involved in teaching this programme run a series of research events for both their taught and research postgraduates.
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Further study opportunities
If you are interested in further research, we offer a range of PhD/MPhil programmes.
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Careers information
Graduates go on to careers in international organisations or businesses, in translating or teaching, and as researchers or journalists.
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Apply now
- How to apply
In addition to the online application, you will need to complete and submit a written exercise. - Application deadlines and interviews
- We encourage you to apply as early as possible. Enrolment from May.
- Interviews, by arrangement, are held throughout the academic year.
- Candidates are normally asked to complete an admissions test.
- Online application
You can apply online from the link below.
- How to apply