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Comparative literature is the study of "literature without walls". It ranges across cultural and national frontiers, time periods, languages, genres, and even across the boundaries between literature and the other arts.
If you want to study comparative literature, you’ll need intellectual curiosity, an open mind and the courage to confront unknown cultures and unfamiliar writers. Our students gain transferable skills such as:
- independent critical thinking
- the ability to gather, analyse and compare unfamiliar material
- the ability to argue coherently
- the skill of handling detail without losing sight of general perspectives.
You could also have the opportunity to study a foreign language (even as a beginner) as part of the curriculum. Our courses can form a Joint Honours degree with a wide range of other subjects available in the College of Arts & Humanities and the College of Social Sciences. Languages taught include:
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Czech
- French
- German
- Italian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish