Course summary
This pathway of the MA in Literary Studies focuses especially on twentieth and twenty-first century literature. Why study the MA Literary Studies: Modern and Contemporary Literature pathway at Goldsmiths
- On the compulsory module for this programme, you'll look at the most significant trends, influences, and movements in twentieth-century literature. This includes literary realism, expressionism, absurdism, writing on the Holocaust, and the emergence of poststructuralism and postmodernism.
- We study some of the most important European and American texts of this time period and situate them within their relevant cultural contexts. We'll get you reading and analysing works by James Joyce, André Gide, Samuel Beckett, W.G. Sebald, Primo Levi and Virginia Woolf – among others.
- You'll have the opportunity to pursue your wider interests by studying three options from the large provision of the department, choosing at least one of these in an area that is relevant to modern literature.
- You will be able to further develop your interest in literary theory or literary-theoretical approaches to literature and culture through a 15,000-word dissertation to be submitted at the end of your programme of study.
Modules
Compulsory module: Modern and Contemporary Literary Movements 30 credits You also take three option modules from the selection below, in addition to the compulsory module and dissertation. Introduction to Modern and Contemporary American Literature and Culture 30 credits Nineteenth-Century Literature: Romanticisms 30 credits Literature of the Caribbean & its Diasporas 30 credits Literature in the World: Encounters, Comparison, Reception 30 credits Theories of Literature & Culture 30 credits Historicising the Field of Black British Writing: From the Romans to the Present 30 credits American Science Fiction: 1950 Onwards 30 credits The Contemporary American Novel in the Era of Climate Change 30 credits Contemporary Indigenous Literatures: Place, Politics and Identity 30 credits Interculturality, Text, Poetics 30 credits Modern and Contemporary Women's Writing: 1920s To Present 30 credits Genre and Aesthetics: Contemporary Black British Writing 30 credits Postmodern Fiction 30 credits Literature and Philosophy 30 credits European Decadence and the Visual Arts 30 credits You can also choose options from a range of Linguistics and Translation modules. Discourse and Identity in Spoken Interaction 30 credits Thinking Translation: Introduction to Translation Theory 30 credits Decolonising English Language Teaching 30 credits Language in its Sociocultural Context 30 credits Intercultural Discourse & Communication 30 credits Core Issues in English Language & Linguistics 30 credits English in a Multilingual World 30 credits Language & Ideology in Written Discourse 30 credits *Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
Entry requirements
You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a relevant/related subject or equivalent. You might also be considered if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level. If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Provider information
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross
Lewisham
SE14 6NW