Our MA in Modern Literature offers the opportunity to be part of a dynamic group of scholars working in 20th and 21st century literature, culture, and theory.
You will undertake an intensive and challenging study of the broad field of contemporary writing. Units provide opportunities to study modernism, postcolonial writing, cultural theory, radical subcultures, American culture, contemporary fiction, and much more.
We focus on the connections between texts and the various political and historical contexts in which they are produced and circulated. Through a detailed study of aesthetic form, we examine the connections between cultural and political practice, with a particular focus on representations and constructions of sexuality, class, gender, and race.
Teaching and learning
You will learn through a variety of teaching methods, depending on the modules you take, including lectures, seminars and independent study.
You will also attend seminars on topics such as studying for a master’s degree, researching and writing a master’s thesis, and career options.
Coursework and assessment
You will be assessed through a variety of methods depending on the modules you take, including written assignments.
List of course sections
The course details below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available for this course of study.
- Major issues in literary and critical theory
- Reading the Modern
- Queer cinema and beyond
- Modernism
- Postcolonial literatures, genres and theories
- Gender, sexuality and culture
- Major issues in literary and critical theory
- Forms of writing
- Contemporary fiction
- Reading poetry: lyrics and the Anthropocene
- Approaches to Literary Studies: Historicism and the Archive
You will have access to one of the five national research libraries, as well as to 24-hour educational institutions and cultural facilities.