BA Comparative Literatures and Cultures
About this course
BA in Comparative Literatures and Cultures, an undergraduate degree within English and Modern Languages and Classics focused on international texts, film, and art from ancient periods to the present day. Core topics include Research Methods, Critical & Analytical Thinking, and Global & Comparative Perspective. The curriculum incorporates a decolonial focus that considers literature beyond the Western canon and examines material through a comparative lens. The first year introduces foundational theories and practical applications through compulsory modules such as Comparative Literatures and Cultures: Theories and Approaches and Reading Comparatively, alongside optional choices including Greek and Roman Narrative, The Novel, and The Bible: Past and Present. The second year develops methodological capabilities with compulsory study in Migrating Texts: Classical Reception, Adaptation, Translation and Research Skills in Languages and Cultures. Students can further tailor their studies in the second year by selecting from optional modules such as Modernism and Modernity: Literature 1900-1960, Digital China: Popular Culture, Technology, and Society, and Work Experience: Building Skills and Unlocking Opportunities.
Modules
- Comparative Literatures and Cultures: Theories and Approaches
- Reading Comparatively
- Greek and Roman Narrative
- Text and Context: Writing Women in Ancient Literature
- The Novel
- The Devil is in the Detail: An Introduction to the Short Story in French
- A Nation Remembers: Issues in German Cultural Memory
- Italy Inside Out: Popular Visual Narratives about Italy
- Chinese Art and the Art of Living
- An Emotional Experience: Russian Literature and the Expression of Feeling
- An Introduction to the Hispanic World: Texts in Context
- The Bible: Past and Present
- Migrating Texts: Classical Reception, Adaptation, Translation
- Research Skills in Languages and Cultures
- Greek and Roman Narrative
- Text and Context: Writing Women in Ancient Literature
- Modernism and Modernity: Literature 1900-1960
- Culture, Crisis and Ecology in a Postcolonial World
- Work Experience: Building Skills and Unlocking Opportunities
- Gender, Race and Migration in 20th and 21st-century German Literature
- Chinoiserie and Européenerie: Artistic and Vultural Exchanges between China and Europe
- Digital China: Popular Culture, Technology, and Society
- Other Shores: Exile and Emigration in Russian Literature
- Contemporary Latin American Cinema
- Tales of Freedom, Necessity and Providence
- From Page to Screen: Female Detectives in Literature, Film, and Television