This course is about learning how to make new discoveries that will contribute to a better understanding of literary texts and how they function within society.
Whether you prefer ancient Greek dramas, medieval Dutch poetry, contemporary American literature, or general literary theory, this Master’s is suited to students wishing to contribute to textual research. The Master’s in Literary Studies will teach you how to approach historical and contemporary texts from an international perspective, as well as to examine the current societal significance of literature. By the end of the programme, you’ll be able to discuss literary texts and scholarly approaches with other scholars at the highest academic level.
At Radboud University, we believe that to fully understand literature, you need to broaden your scope. You will gain insight into methods and theories in both literary studies and the humanities in general. You’ll become familiar with a wide range of literary traditions, critical approaches and theoretical debates. This will enhance your own research. In order to expand your horizon as a literary scholar, you’ll spend a semester conducting research and taking courses abroad.
See the website
http://www.ru.nl/masters/hlcs/literary Europe and its worlds
The programme welcomes students with interest in all fields of literary studies, but our own research primarily focuses on Europe and ‘its worlds’, including the ways Europe interacts with and differs from the rest of the world. All our research is performed in collaboration with scientists from other fields within the Institute for Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies (HLCS). We are joined in thirteen themed research groups.
Why study Literary Studies at Radboud University?
- There is a strong focus on textual scholarship and methods of literary interpretation. The programme studies all forms of literary texts and written records from all historical periods.
- In your first year, you take several courses with students from the other HLCS research Master’s as Historical Studies, and Art and Visual Culture. This unique construction will allow you to view your own field from the perspective of other disciplines within the humanities.
- A personal tutor will guide you throughout the entire programme. He/she will give you advice on how to tailor our programme to best suit your interests, act as a sounding board for your research ideas, and help you make the right connections in the academic world.
- You’ll receive thorough preparation for PhD research, including the writing of a publishable scholarly article and a proposal for a PhD project.
- This programme strongly encourages you to go abroad for at least a semester. Students can use our connections to other universities (IRUN network) and research institutes to find a place that meet their academic interests.
Our research in this field
Any research done by students of the Master’s in Literary Studies will be supervised by a researcher at the Institute for Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies (HLCS) in Nijmegen. HLCS research focuses around the theme Europe and its Worlds and questions whether ‘Europe’ consists of different worlds, how it is addressed, how it differs from the rest of the world, and how it interacts with other worlds. Researchers from a variety of humanities disciplines collaborate in thirteen different thematic groups to explore the spaces, cultural practices, beliefs, texts and ideas related to Europe and its World.
- Thematic research groups
There is a literary scientist in many of these thematic groups. Although all the groups could be of interest to a literary researcher, our experience is that the following generate a lot of interest among the Literary Studies students:
- European Literary History
This group explores the various forms, functions, agents, media, infrastructures, traditions and theories of literature that, now or then, have been involved in relating ‘Europe’ to a certain space, tradition, or identity.
- Studying Criticism And Reception Across Borders
This group researches literary reception in its broadest sense, from analysing the practice of book reviewers and literary criticism, to studying all sorts of literary institutions like publishers, literary magazines.
- Memory, Materiality and Meaning in the Age of Transnationalism
This group studies the media and forms of embodiment through which we create memory through meaning-making and performative practices.
Master’s thesis topics in Literary Studies:
For their Master’s thesis research, students can work together with researchers from one of the HLCS research groups or choose a topic in a non-related area. A small sample of thesis topics that you could research in this programme:
- Classicism under Justinian. A study of Justinian's classicising policies in the fields of literature, legislation and military conquest.
- The early transmission of Sappho's songs reflected in the ancient sources.
- Performing the Past, Staging the Future: Memory, Modernity, and (Inter)nationalist Identities at the Dublin Gate Theatre.
- Austen: The Next Generation. Modern reworkings of Pride and Prejudice and the Quest for New Audiences.
- De naam van de schrijver. Auteur, lezer en pseudoniem.
- Lolita - ethiek, lezer & effect. Een cognitief narratologische analyse van Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita (1955).
Academia and beyond
This programme is initially intended to prepare its students for an academic career, in particular as PhD researchers. About half of our graduates find such a position in the Netherlands or abroad. The other half also do well and often find academic positions with research orientated duties. Examples include:
- Researcher at a cultural or scientific organisation or research centre
- Assistant of a senior researcher
- Teacher at an institution for higher education
- Policy-making official in the fields of culture and science
- Editor in the field of historical or cultural scholarship
- Staff member of a publishing company or and text agency, usually with regard to scientific, historical or cultural journals
- Curator of a cultural heritage institution or in the museological sector
- Consultant for a political party
See the website
http://www.ru.nl/masters/hlcs/literary
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