English Literature MA

Develop your critical voice as you select your own path through a rich engagement with literature from the medieval to the contemporary. You will be guided throughout by a focus on the themes of world, spirit, body and place. This quartet of foundational critical terms reflects major Lancaster research strengths and will provide you with a gateway to literary study of all kinds, both established and experimental.<br/><br/><strong>Why Lancaster?</strong><br/>• Study with eminent Lancaster critics and scholars<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Be inspired by our rich programme of literary events on campus, online, and in the city’s historic Castle Quarter<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Discover quiet corners in the University Library – from cosy study nooks to collaborative workspaces and the bespoke Postgraduate Study Space<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Get involved with our four student-run literary journals: Cake, Lux, Flash, and Errant<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Present your work at our Literary Studies Conference, usually held in the impressive surroundings of Lancaster Castle<br/><br/><br/><br/>• Enjoy the benefits of our partnership with the archive-rich Wordsworth Museum at Grasmere, including internship opportunities<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>Quartet</strong><br/>Each element of our quartet of themes provides the focus for one module and will be studied through a range of texts from different periods that work on and around that theme. The ‘World’ module, for example, will examine both ancient and modern models of the world and such related terms as globe or cosmos, and consider how our texts reflect and/or refract those models.<br/><br/>Each theme is taught by eminent critics and scholars with specialisms from right across the spectrum of literary studies. In your written work you can, though, choose to focus on a particular period.<br/><br/><strong>A choice of focus and a choice of form</strong><br/>At all times you can choose not only what you write on but how – whether that be writing in a classical literary-critical style or experimenting with creative forms of literary criticism. You’ll be able, that is, to undertake anything from textual scholarship or literary theory through to creative re-writing or citational collage.<br/><br/>As the programme unfolds, you’ll get to know those tutors whose research is especially attuned to your interests and they’ll support you as you plan and develop your independent research project. This could, if you wish, be an action-based project involving, say, our annual full-scale Shakespeare performance at Lancasters historic Castle or our partners at the Wordsworth Museum at Grasmere and /or Lancaster’s annual LitFest, the UK’s third-oldest literary festival.<br/><br/><strong>Literature in the world</strong><br/>The programme offers not only a deep engagement with literature but also the opportunity to explore, if you wish, how literature opens onto other worlds – politics, ecology, philosophy, psychology, theology, film, music, theatre, fashion and even science, etc.<br/><br/>You’ll also have the chance to study works in translation from other languages, such as Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish, Palestinian and Egyptian.<br/><br/>In addition, you’ll investigate what it means to write, publish and think about books today, exploring literary cultures both within universities and far beyond. We will, in particular, explore how literature flourishes in fields such as publishing, museums, film, journalism, new media, podcasting, fashion and more.<br/><br/>This programme will, therefore, enable you to develop a host of high-level professional skills from within literary study such as critical and creative thinking, textual analysis, communication and persuasion. <br/><br/><strong>Literary life</strong><br/>Your studies will be enriched by a series of free literary events, many of which, take place in the Castle Quarter, with our October Evening and May Gathering being usually held at Lancaster’s ancient Priory.<br/><br/>In addition, we currently have a unique partnership with the archive-rich Wordsworth Museum at Grasmere in the nearby Lake District – this includes an annual study retreat day, free entry at any time of the year, and four residential internships.