English: Contemporary Literatures MA

Explore your passion for contemporary literature and the way it can be used to help our understanding of society. You will examine current developments and critical issues in the past 30 years of literature on a course that provides an international and cross-cultural outlook.

Whether your interests lie in the postcolonial world or you have a fascination with women's writing or contemporary gothic literature, this challenging course will allow you to study recent volumes of poetry, research cultures and explore novels and films relating to current debates. You will use key theoretical models and concepts to gain a greater understanding of how we study literature and the motivations and historical events that have driven the authors you choose to read.

Taught by a team with an international reputation for their research in diverse areas, ranging from Caribbean culture, history and literature to cultural representations of the 2007-08 credit crunch across literature, stage and screen, this course will expose you to new ideas and will encourage you to question them.

Check out our twitter feed @BeckettEnglish for up-to-date information on staff and student events, short courses and fun happenings around the school. 

Research Excellence Framework 2014

Research Excellence Framework 2014: 38% of our research was judged to be world leading or internationally excellent in the Communication, Culture and Media Studies, Library and Information Management unit.

Visit the School of Cultural Studies & Humanities Website.

CAREERS

You will graduate with the expertise and confidence to add your voice to the latest literary criticism. You could decide to explore your chosen area further, get your findings published and work towards an MPhil or PhD, and then pursue a career in academia. Having built on and developed a range of transferable skills such as advanced planning and critical engagement, you will also be well prepared for a variety of careers in the civil service, teaching, journalism or publishing.

• Editorial Assistant
• Press Officer
• Reader Development Librarian
• Marketing Communications Executive

Core modules

• Researching Cultures

Option modules can include*:

• Dissertation
• Doris Lessing: Narrating Nation & Identity
• Contemporary Genre: (Re)Presenting the 21st Century
• Haunting the Contemporary: the Ghost Story in 20th & 21st Century Fiction
• Post-Structuralist Theory: Foucault & Derrida
• Neoliberal Fictions
• Other Victorians: The Neo-Victorian Contemporary Novel
• The New Yorkshire Novel
• Contemporary Gothic
• Poetry & Poetics
• Translating Tricksters: Literatures of the Black Atlantic
• India Shining: Secularism, Globalization, & Contemporary Indian Culture

*These modules rotate on an annual basis. Not all modules listed may be available in your year of entry.

Additional information

For further information on financing your studies or information about whether you may qualify for one of our bursaries and scholarships, follow the links below:

Financing your studies

Useful Links

• Postgraduate Loan scheme
• Your Student Experience

Visit the English: Contemporary Literatures MA page on the Leeds Beckett University website for more details!