Literary Studies: Comparative Literature

The Master's programme Comparative Literature focuses on the analysis and interpretation of cultural 'texts' within an broad, interdisciplinary theoretical and cross-cultural framework.


Students are trained to closely analyse a variety of cultural objects, Western and non-Western, within a globalized cultural context. This specialisation therefore includes more than examining literature: media such as film, art and music, and cultural objects and practices in the broadest sense, will also be considered.
The specialisation has a distinct interdisciplinary and theoretical character: from cultural studies to queer theory, from political philosophy to post/de-colonial theory, the specialisation emphasizes methodological reflection. In the Master's programme Comparative Literature, we analyse and critically reflect on texts, films, art works and cultural practices at large. This is reflected in the programme's courses, which engage with issues of gender, race, the posthuman, politics, contemporary philosophy, globalization, global literacy and the state of the humanities in the 21st century. Students follow two compulsory core courses, and may combine courses from two or more other specialisations (e.g. English Literature and Culture; Literature, Culture and Society; other UvA Humanities Master's programmes), and thereby carry out comparative research projects.

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