Literature and Culture MA

The programme is made up of three sets of modules:

• Core modules: two modules in Research Skills and Dissertation Preparation will equip you with the skills necessary for your written assessments.
• Foundation modules: a choice of two options from a range of modules which provide a comprehensive introduction to a variety of literary periods and themes.
• Specialist modules: a choice of two options from a range of modules which explore specific topics within the range of literary periods and themes we offer.

You have complete flexibility to choose your foundation and specialist modules from across literary periods and themes, but it is also possible to follow an informal pathway through the programme by choosing a set of complementary modules. These include:

• Medieval pathway: Foundation modules in Meeting Medieval Manuscripts and Understanding Medieval Literature, plus specialist modules such as:Fantasy and Fandom; Magic, Monsters and Marvels; Mapping the Middle Ages.
• The Long Nineteenth Century pathway: Foundation modules in Approaches to Nineteenth-Century Studies and Nineteenth Century Voices, plus specialist modules such as: Alternative Facts: Genre, Historicism, and the Fantasy of Other Pasts; Nineteenth-Century Detective Fiction; Nineteenth-Century Senses
• Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Literature pathway: Foundation modules in Modernism and Contemporary Literature, plus specialist modules such as: Modernism in the Magazines; The End of Life As We Know It: The Implications of Digital Technology; Theories of the Modern.
• Popular Fiction pathway: Foundation modules in Cultures of Popular Literature and Evolutions of Popular Literature, plus specialist modules such as: Fantasy and Fandom: Writing Back to the Medieval in Modern Fantasy; Guilty Pleasures: Reading the Historical Romance; Muslim Women’s Popular Fiction.

All students will take the following modules:

This module will prepare you for your MA dissertation and assist those of you planning to continue to doctoral study in your application for internal and/or external funding. The module will run in Semester 1 and consists of a combination of generic research skills classes and individual supervisions. It aims to equip you with the research skills and familiarity with your chosen field that will assist you in producing strong assessed work at MA level. Topics may include: use of the library and e-resources; planning a research project; referencing methods; book history and textual criticism; and working in archives. The modules also includes sessions in the Cadbury Research Library.

Assessment: 1,000-word research proposal and 3,000-word literature review

This module builds on the skills developed in the Research Skills module. It is designed to support you in developing your dissertation research topic, and to equip you with the skills and experience that you need to present and communicate your research to an academic audience. The module will develop your ability to structure and present research effectively in different formats, and your confidence in speaking to an audience and responding to questions. You will be supported by individual supervisory tutorials with your project advisor, lectures in poster and oral presentation techniques, and weekly group writing sessions. The mid-module poster presentation and end of module MA conference will give you the opportunity to participate in different modes of research presentation, to discuss your work with academics and fellow MA students, and to demonstrate presentational skills demanded by employers as well as by a career in academic research.
Assessment: Research poster and 15-minute conference presentation

You will choose two modules from a range which typically includes:

• Meeting Medieval Manuscripts
• Understanding Middle English
• Approaches to Nineteenth-Century Studies
• Nineteenth-Century Voices
• Modernism
• Contemporary Literature
• Cultures of Popular Literature
• Evolutions of Popular Literature
• Living in Code: Understanding Digital Cultures

For full module descriptions, see our Literature and Culture MA modules page.

You also have a choice of two options from a range of modules which explore specific topics within the range of literary periods and themes we offer. Options vary from year to year, but those available typically include:

• After the Deluge: Writing and Recovery after the First World War
• Alternative Facts: Genre, Historicism, and the Fantasy of Other Pasts
• Byron and Keats
• Fantasy and Fandom: Writing Back to the Medieval in Modern Fantasy
• Flourish for the Players (Shakespeare’s Contemporaries)
• From Cover to Cover: Histories of the Book
• From Plato to the Postmodern: Theories of Literature and Art
• Guilty Pleasures: Reading the Historical Romance
• John Donne and the Metaphysical Poets
• Modernism in the Magazines
• Muslim Women’s Popular Fiction
• Neo-Victorianism
• Nineteenth-Century Detective Fiction
• Nineteenth-Century Senses
• PoMo Historical Fictions
• The Art of Translation
• The End of Life As We Know It: The Implications of Digital Technology
• The Pre-Raphaelite Circle
• Theories of the Modern

For full module descriptions, see our Literature and Culture MA modules page.

In addition to your taught modules, you will conduct a piece of independent research with the support of a supervisor, culminating in a 15,000-word dissertation.

Please note that the optional module information listed on the website for this programme is intended to be indicative, and the availability of optional modules may vary from year to year. Where a module is no longer available we will let you know as soon as we can and help you to make other choices.