MA Comparative Literature (Africa / Asia)
Duration: One calendar year (full-time). Two or three years (part-time, daytime only) We recommend that part-time students have between two-and-a-half and three days a week free to pursue their course of study.
Overview
Minimum Entry Requirements: Minimum upper second class honours degree (or equivalent)
Start of programme: September intake only
Mode of Attendance: Full Time or Part Time
The opportunity to move from the familiar Euro-American literary canons into the fresh but less well known worlds of African and Asian literature is what attracts most students to this popular MA.
At SOAS, students benefit from the unique expertise in this vast field possessed by the school’s faculty.
This expertise is available to students interested in studying these literatures through English - including both original English language literatures of Africa and Asia and literature written in African and Asian languages presented through English translations.
While exploring new horizons and breaking out of the Euro-centric space in which comparative literature has developed so far, the course covers the major theoretical contributions made by Western scholars.
In doing so, it constructs a unique multi-cultural domain for the study of literature and its location in culture and society.
A prior knowledge of an African or Asian language is not a requirement for admission to this degree.
Structure
All students are required to take the core course in their first year. Two other courses, one major, one minor, plus a dissertation of 10,000 words must also be completed.Core Course
- Theory and Techniques of Comparative Literature (15PSAC279)
English Based Options
- Japanese Traditional Drama (half-unit term 1) (15PEAH013)
- Modern Japanese Literature (half-unit term 2) (15PEAH012)
- Modern Chinese Literature in Translation (15PCHC002)
- Modern Chinese Film and Theatre (half-unit term 1) (15PCHH001)
- Modern Film From Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora (half-unit term 2)(15PCHH002)
- Traditional Chinese Literature in Translation (15PCHC004)
- Literatures in African Languages (15PAFC124)
- Selected Topics in African Literature (15PAFC125)
- Aspects of African Film and Video 1 (15PAFH006)
- Aspects of African Film and Video 2 (15PAFH007)
- Survey of Korean Literature (15PEAC054)
- Literatures of South Asia (15PSAC284)
- Postcolonial Theory & Practice (15PSAC019)
- Post Crisis Thai Cinema (1997-2007) (half-unit) (15PSEH008) (not available 2009-10)
- Southeast Asia on screen (half-unit) (15PSEH004) (not available 2009-10)
- War, Revolution, Independence in South East Asian Fiction (Masters) (half-unit term 1) (15PSEH009) (AVAILABLE AS A MAJOR)
- Postcolonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen (half-unit) (15PSEH010) (AVAILABLE AS A MAJOR) (not available 2009-10)
- Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film (half-unit term 2) (15PSEH011) (AVAILABLE AS A MAJOR)
- Modern Arabic Literature and the West (15PNMC002)
The following are half-courses and must be taken jointly (Minor only):
- Japanese Transnational Cinema: From Kurosawa to Asia Extreme and Studio Ghibli (half-unit term 1) (15PEAH008)
- Japanese Post-War Film Genres and the Avant-garde (half-unit term 2) (15PEAH009)
The following are half-courses and must be taken jointly (Minor only):
- Indian Cinema: its history and social context (half-unit term 1) (15PSAH001)
- Indian Cinema: key issues (half-unit term 2) (15PSAH002)
Language Based Options:
- Topics in Korean Literature (15PEAC025)
- The Novel in Swahili (15PARC014) (not available 2009-10)
- Social and Political Trends in Nineteenth Century Turkish Literature (15PNMC373)
- Selected Topics in Twentieth Century Turkish Literature (15PNMC374)
- Social and Political Dimensions of Modern Arabic Literature (15PNMC347)
- Modern Palestinian Literature (15PNMC379)
- Sanskrit Literature (15PSAC003)
- Directed Readings in the Literature of a Modern South Asian Language (15PSAC016)
- Literature and Colonialism in North India (Masters) (half-unit term 1) (15PSAH005)
- Narratives of mobility in contemporary Hindi Literature (Masters) (half-unit term 2) (15PSAH006)
- The Thai Novel (15PSEC013) (not available 2009-10)
- Contemporary Vietnamese Prose Fiction (15PSEC016) (not available 2009-10)
- Modern Vietnamese Poetry (15PSEC017) (not available 2009-10)
ONE of the following options taught at UCL may be taken as a MINOR:
- Modern Literary Theory (17CLIT0001)
- Translation Studies (17CLIT0002)
- Practice and Methodology of Comparative Literature (17CLIT0007)
Students interested in taking one of the UCL options should contact Ms. Els Braeken Arts Faculty Office, Tel: 020 7679 3113, Email: e.braeken@ucl.ac.uk.
Programme Specification
Teaching & Learning
Year abroad
Teaching & Learning
The taught part of the course consists of core lectures introducing basic concepts, theory and methodology; and additional seminars that extend the core material into other areas. At Masters level there is particular emphasis on seminar work where students may be expected to make full-scale presentations for units they take.
A 10,000-word dissertation written over the summer offers students the opportunity to develop original research in an area of special interest. The course is formulated within two tracks:
