English Literature and Culture
| Specialisation of: | Literary Studies |
|---|---|
| Degree: | Master of Arts in Literary Studies |
| Mode of Study: | Full-time, part-time |
| Duration: | 1 year (full-time); 1,5 year (part-time) |
| Start date: | September, February |
| Language of instruction: | English |
| Location: | Leiden |
| Croho/isat code: | 60813 |
The English Literature and Culture specialisation of the MA in Literary Studies provides you with an opportunity to develop your knowledge of a wide range of literary works and genres in English, from the Middle Ages to the present. Since English is a world language, you will not only read works from the more ‘traditional’ canons of British and American literature, but also from such diverse areas as the Caribbean, South-Africa and India.
You can also choose to focus on Philology, that is, the study of medieval and early-modern texts and text media against their cultural-historical background. This approach may vary from analysing manuscripts to (digitally) unravelling linguistic phenomena such as the meaning of specific words or phrases; from studying themes in Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry or Arthurian romances to politeness conventions in eighteenth-century letter collections.
Literature knows no bounds in time or place, and this specialisation offers you a chance to explore this rich variety.
Programme
Within the English Literature and Culture programme, which spans two semesters, you will have the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics. You choose from a range of seminar options which vary from year to year and on occasion also include a course on Anglo-American film. In the past we have offered courses on “Chaucer’s Dream Poetry”, “Religious Struggles in Early Modern Literature”, “British Fantasy Fiction”, “J.M. Coetzee”, “Voices and Visions of Multicultural America” and “Heroes and Heroines of Faith: Saints in Anglo-Saxon England”. The courses offered for Philology can be combined with linguistics courses on earlier stages of the language, such as Old and Middle English, as offered by the MA specialisation in English Language and Linguistics.
Semester 1
In the first semester you take three out of a choice of courses.
Semester 2
In Semester 2 you take one course from the courses offered in the Literary Studies programme at Leiden University. Furthermore, you work on your master’s thesis of approximately 20,000 words. You will be guided throughout this process by your thesis adviser.
For the current course overview, see the e-Prospectus.
Objectives
The aim of the programme is to introduce you to the concepts and academic approaches current in Literary Studies. You will learn to use these concepts and approaches in researching and analysing source material in English. Your thesis work will give you the opportunity to apply these methods in your own research.
