MA English Literature

Compulsory modules   

Dissertation 

Complete a substantial work of literary-critical argument based on sustained independent research under the guidance of a supervisor. Engage in depth with a topic of particular interest as you develop the skillset accumulated during your first two years of study.  

Materiality and Textuality 

Develop your expertise in research techniques, focusing on archival materials. You’ll learn the practicalities of advanced literary research and receive guidance on using and constructing bibliographies, locating and using manuscripts, editorial practices, and the nature of copyright. Additionally, you’ll familiarise yourself with the modes of literary production and consumption and learn how to trace and analyse them in relation to specific resources. 

Optional modules

Women's Rights, Women's Writing 

Learn about women's political activism through an interdisciplinary approach, focusing on women's writing and texts as interventions in political controversy. Discover how women played a vital role in discussing their societal role and political rights during the early modern period, and learn about women's demands for a voice, their rhetorical strategies for rights, and their resistance to restrictions on agency.

Modern and Contemporary Literature 

Develop your interests as you study the period from literary modernism up to the present day. You’ll engage with a wide range of primary and secondary texts, familiarise yourself with forms and genres relevant to the period, and consider problems associated with the ideas of modernity and the contemporary.  

Opening Up Medieval English Texts 

Discover innovative English literature forms and content from the Middle Ages. You'll dive into the work of key authors, including Geoffrey Chaucer, explore new literary forms including romance and treatments of new narrative material, and analyse themes such as chivalry, courtly love, the supernatural, and gender. You'll also learn about a wide range of material and performance contexts, from manuscripts to oral recitations, and understand how these contexts shape medieval approaches like author, genre, and textual authority.

Contemporary Literature and Ethnicity

Explore a range of contemporary British and American fiction about the theory and practice of multiculturalism and cultural pluralism. You’ll engage in detailed discussion of the work of authors such as Hari Kunzru, Kazuo Ishiguro, Zadie Smith, Claudia Rankine, Colson Whitehead, and Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, and interrogate different theories and models of ethnicity in relation to debates around pluralism, multiculturalism, identity politics, and critical race theory. 

Modern Literary Feminisms: Theories/Praxis/Text

Explore modern feminist thinking and writing, while acknowledging the complexities within the term 'feminism'. You'll learn about feminist theory and practice through various texts – including fiction, non-fiction, film, drama, blogs, and websites – to problematise implicit hierarchies in knowledge types. You'll also reflect on your own embodied knowledge and connect your reading with the gendered world. 

Samuel Beckett

Undertake a comprehensive analysis of the works and intellectual contexts of Samuel Beckett, one of the most important and experimental writers of the twentieth century. You’ll look at a representative selection from his drama, prose, poetry, and criticism, as well as his works in radio, television, and film. You’ll also engage with the University’s Beckett Archive, the largest collection of manuscripts and other materials relating to the author in the world.  

Publishing and the Business of Books 

Explore the place of the writer within the business of modern international publishing. Through a mixture of critical reading, seminars, and practice-based workshops in Reading’s Special Collections and publishers’ archives, you'll explore a series of modern writers’ interactions with publishers, editors, agents, and translators, considering the journeys and revisions that texts undergo to reach diverse, global readerships. You'll also critically evaluate how publishing rights are sold from one country to another, and how translations are commissioned and funded. You’ll gain a robust, historical understanding of creative writing and modern international book publishing, and have opportunities to interact with publishing professionals. 

Romantics and Victorians 

Discover  English literature of the long nineteenth century, spanning the period between the revolutions of the late 1700s and the beginning of the First World War. You'll explore the rise of Romanticism, covering writers from the time of Wordsworth, Byron, and the Shelleys, before examining literature during Victoria's reign and beyond. Writers may include the Brontës, George Eliot, Henry James, Matthew Arnold, Oscar Wilde, and Joseph Conrad. You'll learn about all the major genres, including lyric and narrative poetry, the novel, the short story, drama, and critical prose. 

Early Modern Literature 

Explore early modern literature and drama, analysing texts within their historical, literary, and critical contexts and considering various methods and approaches. By delving into this period's drama, poetry, and prose, you’ll access a range of critical perspectives, developing a deeper understanding while reflecting on your own approaches to reading.

Emerging Issues in Data Protection and Copyright Law

This module explores the two expert fields of law, namely data protection and copyright, through cutting-edge discussions around scholarship and case law. It analyses the legal protection afforded to privacy and personal data, with an emphasis on the processing of personal information in the UK and EU regulatory framework. It also provides advanced knowledge of the legal protection that is afforded to creative works and authors under UK copyright law. The sessions involve current debates such as AI-created works, deepfakes and automated decision-making.

The module aims to provide students with advanced and the most cutting edge knowledge of the legal, regulatory and policy issues on the protection of privacy, personal data and copyright to enable them to appreciate and critically assess both the practical day-to-day operation of these areas and their rationales.

Management in Creative and Cultural Industries

This module examines organisations that are engaged in creative or cultural activities and the industries they create from an interdisciplinary management perspective. Students will define and understand the parameters of the creative or cultural industries; identify the management challenges faced by organisations in these sectors; and examine strategies for addressing them. You will continuously engage with a range of creative and cultural industries, from adverts on public transport to broadcasted historical events, considering not only their significant impact on society, but also their contribution to the economy and links to other industries.

Modules relevant to the publishing industry

If you have a particular interest in pursuing a career in the publishing industry or related fields, you can take a suite of modules that form an ad hoc publishing pathway: ‘Materiality & Textuality’ in semester 1 and two of the following three modules in semester 2: ‘Publishing and the Business of Books’, ‘Emerging Issues in Data Protection and Copyright Law’ and ‘Management in Creative and Cultural Industries’. These last two modules are offered from within the School of Law and the Henley Business School, respectively, and are taught and assessed quite differently from the other modules on the programme. You will learn alongside students from these schools and also from students from the School of Arts and Communication Design.

These are the modules we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they're informed by the latest teaching and research methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.