Literary Thought

The M.Litt. in Comparative Literature and Thought provides a unique and distinctive research training in the comparative study of European and postcolonial literatures and cultures in French, German and Spanish. It is designed to accommodate both students who have an undergraduate degree in one or more of these languages, and also those without a reading knowledge of the languages in question, who would like to pursue comparative study in English translation. The programme therefore offers a preparation for doctoral research either for languages graduates, or for graduates in subjects such as English, who are seeking to develop a comparative dimension to their further studies.

Course Structure

In the first semester, a core course on “Encounters: Literature and
Thought” provides a foundation for the comparative study of literatures and cultures, which will be strongly informed theoretically, within the context of key questions of intellectual history.

In the second semester, two further courses address issues of culture, identity, memory, and history in a comparative context: “Art Matters”, and “Comparative Imperialisms”. Students on the programme are also free to choose from a wide range of other courses across the College of Arts and Social Sciences.

An individually tailored course on “Issues in Comparative Literature and Thought” then allows each student to develop a more specific research project, and offers a preparation for the dissertation that is either comparative in nature, or with a particular emphasis on French, German, or Hispanic studies.

First semester core courses:

Encounters: Literature and Thought
Research Methods
Preparation and Presentation of Scholarly Writing

Second semester elective courses:

Comparative Imperialisms
Art Matters

Students may also choose from taught postgraduate courses offered elsewhere in the College of Arts and Social Sciences. These would include, for example, “Modernist Revolution in Literature,” “Expressionism,” and “Berlin: City of the Twentieth Century”

Issues in Comparative Literature and Thought (core course)

Master’s Stage (Summer)

Dissertation in Comparative Literature and Thought