• UCL MA in Comparative Literature

• SOAS MA in Comparative Literature

• New MA Programmes at SOAS and UCL 2004-2005

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MAs in Comparative Literature at
SOAS and UCL

SOAS's programme takes advantage of the School's unparalleled range of scholars working on the literatures of Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. The core course on "Theories and Techniques of Comparative Literature" is taught by a awide range of specialists drawn from a variety of theretical and geographical perspectives. A special feature is a focus on the city in the second term. Students also choose two courses on regional literatures (one of which can be from Ucl's Comparative Literature programme) and submit a 10,000-word dissertation at the end of the course.

Students come from around the world to participate in the MA in Comparative Literature at UCL, which admits around fifteen annually. The programme is designed to give students a thorough understanding of modern theories of literature, the contexts of literature and hte interaction between literature, and to provide extensive practical experience in the field of comparative literary studies. Teaching and supervision are organised on an interdepartmental basis. Students follow three courses: "Modern Literary Theory"; "Translation Studies"; and "Practice and Methdology of Comparative Literature". With the approval o the programme co-ordinatore, courses from SOAS an SSEES may be included in the degree. Students also prepare a 10,000-word disseratation.

Studets on both MA programmes are encouraged to become involved in the AHRB Centr'es activities.

NEW COURSES IN THE COMPARATIVE LITERATURE MA PROGRAMME (SOAS) 2005-2006

POSTCOLONIAL THEORY AND PRACTICE

This course-unit will explore the historical relationships of power, domination and practises of imperialism and colonialism in the modern period (late nineteenth-century to the present). It will include a critical examination of Colonial and Postcolonial constructs such as: the Oriental, the Global, the Cosmopolitan, and the Third World. We will explore the heterogeneous meanings, intersections and strategies of analysis that have emerged with reference to the cultures and literatures of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Near and Middle East. While this course will introduce students to key postcolonial subjects and theorists, it will also question the canonization of postcolonial studies and the valorization of postcolonial intellectuals in a global market. This questioning will be a part of the wider interrogation into the economics of neo-colonialism and the inequities of international power-relations.

The course will be taught over two terms. In the first term, we will investigate the validity of concepts such as postcolonialism and the condition of 'postcoloniality' as suitable discursive models for understanding the complexities of the colonial past; the postcolonial present; neo-colonialism; exile and diaspora; transnationalism and the politics of multiculturalism. In the second term, we will utilize the contexts and knowledge of the first term for a closer look at various cultural productions and texts of literature. Assessment for this course will include two written assignments, an oral presentation and an exam.

For further information please contact the course convenor: Dr Amina Yaqin, Department of South Asia, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, SOAS. Email: ay@soas.ac.uk

LITERATURES OF THE ASIAN AND AFRICAN DIASPORAS

This two-part course, which runs over two terms, will give students a comprehensive grounding in the practice and theory of diasporic literature. The first part of the course introduces students to the literature of some of the major Asian and African diasporic communities in Britain, focussing primarily on literature produced in the last fifty years. Upon completion of this part of the course, students will have gained insight into the Jewish, Arab, Caribbean, West African, East African and South Asian diasporic writings which are reconfiguring notions of both "British" and "Asian and African" literatures. The second component of the course introduces students to the major theories and issues emerging from the settlement of migrant communities across the globe. The course explores the meaning of "diaspora" in relation to other key terms (postcolonialism, nationalism, gender, religion, exile, multilingualism, globalisation, migration, refugee studies), and thus gives students a sustained grounding in this critical and controversial term. Both components of the course will be team taught, drawing on the strengths and current research interests of scholars across the Faculty of Languages and Cultures.

For further information please contact the course convenor: Dr Margaret Hillenbrand, Department of China & Inner Asia, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, SOAS. Email: mh2@soas.ac.uk

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For enrolment enquiries, please contact either study@soas.ac.uk or degree-info@ucl.ac.uk.

Click HERE to find out more about the UCL MA in Comparative Literature

Click HERE to find out more about the SOAS MA in Comparative Literature