Study options
- Starting in
- September 2025
- Location
- Mile End
- Fees
- Home: £12,250
Overseas: £25,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
What you'll study
The programme is designed for students to choose their own routes through the course material. On the degree you may choose modules that approach literature through discrete historical periods, considering the material production of our aesthetic and narrative lives over time. You might be interested in our modules that encounter London as a centre of cultural production, where students go out into town and visit historical monuments, contemporary galleries, and the urban infrastructure in between. Or, you might choose modules engaging with historical and contemporary theories, which is to say ways of understanding the world and social formations – for example queer theory, or anti-colonial theory. Your route could focus narrowly on one specific topic or methodology or be an opportunity to practice lots of different ways of doing literary studies. See below for detailed information on modules that have been offered on the programme.
“What I especially appreciated about the MA English Literature at QMUL was the openness and excitement lecturers and students brought to encountering each other’s projects. You work with people studying so many different topics, but there were no hierarchies or boundaries. The department offered lots of support to make sure you fulfil the potential of programme. Lecturers took everyone’s project and chosen route seriously – supporting us where we were at and where we wanted to get to”.
Livonia Okello, MA Graduate, 2022
Structure
Full-Time (1 year)
- Four assessed modules - 2 each semester
- A 15,000-word dissertation
- Research training is provided by the Dissertation module
Part-Time Option (2 years)
First Year - 1 assessed module per semester + Semester A of the Dissertation module
Additional Information
You might incur a small travel cost (e.g. travelcard) for the research training module as it involves visits to archives, museums and galleries. You may also want to buy your own copies of books, although they can all be borrowed from the library for free.
Compulsory/Core modules
ESH7000 Dissertation offers students an opportunity to develop and demonstrate their research and writing skills while engaging with a topic suggested by their work on the core and option modules. The research topic must be feasible, academically sound, and related to the concerns of the programme. The dissertation project must develop an appropriate research methodology and demonstrate an advanced understanding of historical and/or theoretical issues. It must also demonstrate an ability to analyse and present complex evidence and to shape and sustain a coherent, persuasive critical argument at masters level. It must observe appropriate stylistic and bibliographic conventions. To support the independent study that is the mainstay of this module, students attend a number of skills-based structured workshops in addition to one-to-one supervision from their allocated supervisors.
Elective modules
The artistic energies and intellectual currents of the Romantic movement crossed national boundaries and reflected the political and social upheavals of an increasingly globalised world in an age of revolution. This module examines key works of British and European Romanticism and investigates the cultural mechanisms through which Romantic ideas and literary practices were transmitted from one country to another. Diverse strands in British 'Four Nations' Romanticism, including work by Coleridge, Byron, Edgeworth and Carlyle, are analysed alongside Continental texts in translation including Rousseau's Confessions, Goethe¿s Faust, Staël¿s Corinne, and Leopardi¿s Zibaldone. Themes to be explored include the pan-European Ossian phenomenon, the reception of Kant¿s Critical philosophy, the role of literary periodicals, and the `natural supernaturalism¿ of the American Transcendentalists.
How can psychoanalysis help us to think through and make sense of our own time? What are the ways in which we can recognize how both the individual and the collective come into contact with this world, which we are responsible for creating, and yet find ourselves subject to? How do we negotiate public and private life, and both inner and outer reality? To help answer these, and other, questions, the module begins by examining texts by Freud which explore civilization (and famously its discontents) and culture. It then moves on to engage with other psychoanalytic thinkers and works of literature to explore ideas such as the unconscious, desire, love, violence, ethics, and anxiety, and how they might be located and depicted in our modern culture. No previous knowledge of Freud or psychoanalysis is required.
Studying a wide range of texts from 1760 to 1830, this module examines the formal innovations of Romantic literature but also the fascination with archaic genres such as ballad, epic and national song, whose revival and transformation made Romanticism a 'retro' movement as well as a revolutionary one. The module analyses Romantic theories of genre alongside historical examples, while investigating too the 'poetics of the book': the publishing processes and paratextual practices through which experiments with form and format took concrete shape.
This module aims to provide students with a common grounding in the study of Shakespeare within a global context through sustained analysis of three areas: an understanding of Shakespeare in terms of genre, historical context and the close reading of his texts; the transformation of the Shakespearean text by the critical turn of theory; and the afterlife of Shakespeare in his appropriation, translation or adaptation in a global context. The module will be divided into sections. Each section will be devoted to a play of a different genre: comedy, history, tragedy, and romance. The first week of each section will deal with close reading, genre theory, and the play in its historical context. The second will examine a major critical turn by which a new theoretical perspective transformed perceptions of the play--in the classroom, the theatre, or in film. The third will study a particular, global appropriation of the Shakespeare text beyond Britain and North America, through popular cultural or political appropriations and in TV, theatre performance and film. The module will be cumulative: each section will build on the understanding and skills developed in the respective earlier one, and each week devoted to Shakespeare's afterlives will involve an intense critical conversation about the meaning and significance of the 'global'. The texts will be selected in accordance with available teaching expertise and performances of the plays in any year.
This compulsory module for the pathway MA Modern and Contemporary explores modernist and contemporary writing in relation to broad ideas about twentieth-century and twenty-first century history, the historical present, the problems of periodization, and the changing cultural context of literary writing. Special attention is devoted to questions of technology, innovation and social change that alter and bring into question the category of writing itself, its role in theoretical debates, its place in modern and contemporary philosophy. The module has a strand that explores technological innovation and its social effect in the twentieth century, and digital cultures in the twenty first century. There is also a broad engagement with social theory and philosophy, and the, the module aims to offer a detailed survey of issues that relate to the definition of modernism, the nature of modernity and the notion of the contemporary, both in academic contexts and in lived social experience.
This module will explore contemporary writing from around the world, using different postcolonial approaches to frame our discussions. We will consider these texts in relation to recent social, political, and cultural developments across the globe. Predominantly examining anglophone texts, but also including some texts in translation, this module will think about how contemporary postcolonial literature interrogates and re-examines topics such as nationhood, migration, identity, resistance, decolonisation, environmental crisis, conflict, the politics of the literary market place, and their gendered, racialised and classed dynamics in the 21st century.
In this module, we will ask questions about key terms which define a constantly-moving field of study, and which help us to understand the world in which we live, for example colonial, postcolonial, empire, globality, world-system. We will think about these through literary and creative texts that offer us new perspectives on a modern world that is as connected as it is uneven, governed by the structures of contemporary capital and longer histories of empire. We will do this, very consciously, from the perspective of our location in east London, itself an exemplar of the global city.
"This module introduces students to developments in the literature of the late Victorian period with an eye to its possible influences on modernist writing. Students are encouraged to explore such issues as the construction of the self and personality, representation of the body, the role of the artist with reference to gender and sexuality, Decadence, and the 'New Woman', as well as making a more general survey of aesthetics, style, and the visual and literary imagination in the writings of the period. Students study a variety of different kinds of writing including poetry, drama, art and literary criticism, and the novel. Writers included are Swinburne, Pater, Wilde, and Hardy, and lesser known figures such as Vernon Lee and Charlotte Mew."
"This module considers the mythology of the East End of London as articulated and interrogated by literary texts. It focuses on the period from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day and examines the East End as a continuing site of public fascination and creative production. By exploring a selected body of novels and other texts, considered with reference to different aspects of the mobile environment of the East End and contemporary debate, the module develops an understanding of how texts organise and articulate urban space and urban change. In particular, it explores the ways that fiction and prose writing have represented the East End as a site of immigration, cross-class encounter, crime, political activism and memory."
This module introduces students to a range of Victorian authorial voices, which represent most of the key literary genres and span this long, historically transformative, and diverse period. Students will be encouraged to make connections between individual authors and topics; the module invites us to think about the way different perceptions and perspectives from the same cultural moment echo and challenge one another, often in surprising and unexpected ways. Drawing on a wide range of canonical and non-canonical poetry and prose by male and female Victorian authors, students will gain a very strong understanding of British literature from the 1830s to 1900, developing skills that will become useful for later postgraduate research, including the dissertation.
This module enables students to explore the relationship between formal innovation in the contemporary novel and the expression of social, political, and ethical questions. Across the module, we will encounter writers who invite readers to reflect on the cultural status, aesthetic potential, and political mission of the novel as a form. Secondary criticism and theoretical frames will be integrated as the weeks unfold. Students will be encouraged to devise and develop their own avenues of inquiry in preparation for the final assessment on a topic of their choice.
Assessment
- 67% Modules
- 33% Dissertation
You will be assessed by a 1000-word writing assignment and a 4000-word independent research essay for each module you take, in addition to the dissertation research project of 15,000 words.
Dissertation
Recent dissertation subjects include:
- Archetypes of Transformation: Becoming Greener Things in Richard Powers’ The Overstory
- Change the Trope and Grip the Yoke: (Re)signifying Stereotypes of Black Masculinity, in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Percival Everett’s Erasure
- The Strange Heart Beating: W. B. Yeats and the Sonnet
- Dark Academia, Queerness and Online Community in If We Were Villains and These Violent Delights
- Peter Pan, The Coming of the Fairies, and Longing for the Pastoral in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Unveiling Djinn in South Asian and Western Literature
Teaching
Your modules will be taught in weekly two-hour seminars, while the research training provided by the Dissertation module will involve visits to archives and galleries.
Your specially designated supervisor will help you plan your dissertation.
We want you to get the best from your studies, so you'll be paired with your own Academic Advisor, who'll support you academically and pastorally.
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Where you'll learn
Facilities
- Access to University of London’s libraries, including Senate House
- BLOC arts centre in ArtsOne Building featuring a state-of-the-art cinema.
- Our Graduate Centre: purpose-built study spaces and a roof-top common room with a terrace
- Access to Queen Mary's libraries on all our campuses
- Access to a wide range of online resources (including journals, books, databases and media)
Campus
We are based in the heart of London’s creative and technological quarter and encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities this gives you: London has an unparalleled range of specialist archives and collections and you will be well-placed to explore the Women’s Library, the Poetry Library and the BFI National Archive among others.
As Queen Mary is on the Central Line of the Underground tube network, you are also only minutes away from Senate House Library and the British Library – the most important intellectual resources in the capital.
About the School
School of the Arts
The School of the Arts combines innovation, discovery and excellence in education and research in Drama, Film, Modern Languages, English & Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, Linguistics and Liberal Arts. We rank in the top 100 worldwide for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024)
With our commitment to social justice, inclusivity and social mobility, our collaborations with external organisations, prominent writers and performers, and our facilities that support both academic and practice-based learning, an education in the School of the Arts equips our students with critical thinking and practical skills, unleashes their imagination and enables them to reach the levels of excellence needed in today’s industries.
We regularly host prominent writers and performers and collaborate with leading organisations such as the V&A, the Barbican, the Live Art Development Agency and Shakespeare’s Globe.
We are renowned for the depth and impact of research - which leads our teaching. We rank 1st for drama and in the top 10 for film in the UK for the quality of our research (REF2021). Our multilingual community brings together brilliant minds from across the world to share a wealth of expertise combining research excellence with an unrivalled commitment to social justice and social mobility.
Career paths
We train critical thinkers and writers who can pursue a wide range of careers worldwide. Many of our MA students go on to further research and study, and many take their research skills and critical knowledge into other sectors and industries. Recent graduates have gone on to work in education, publishing, arts administration, in policy work, the civil service, and charity sector. Former students now work at:
- Granta
- Royal Society of Authors
- Teach First
- Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service
- Universities around the world
Fees and funding
Full-time study
September 2025 | 1 year
- Home: £12,250
- Overseas: £25,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Unconditional deposit
Home: Not applicable
Overseas: £2000
Information about deposits
Part-time study
September 2025 | 2 years
- Home: £6,150
- Overseas: £12,750
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Unconditional deposit
Home: Not applicable
Overseas: £2000
Information about deposits
Queen Mary alumni can get a £1000, 10% or 20% discount on their fees depending on the programme of study. Find out more about the Alumni Loyalty Award
Funding
There are a number of ways you can fund your postgraduate degree.
- Scholarships and bursaries
- Postgraduate loans (UK students)
- Country-specific scholarships for international students
Our Advice and Counselling service offers specialist support on financial issues, which you can access as soon as you apply for a place at Queen Mary. Before you apply, you can access our funding guides and advice on managing your money:
Entry requirements
UK
Degree requirements
A 2:1 or above at undergraduate level in English or a related subject such as History, Cultural Studies and Media Studies.
Other routes
Promising applicants who do not meet the formal academic criteria but who possess relevant credentials and who can demonstrate their potential to produce written work at Masters level will also be considered. As part of the admissions process, we may call for examples of written and artistic work and/or interview candidates.
Additional information
Please ensure the personal statement you upload with your application explains why you want to study this programme – it should include the following:
- Relevant academic experience and how you think this is a good fit with the programme
- Why you want to study our programme
- What you think you will bring to the cohort
- How you think you will benefit from the programme
- Relevant achievements
- If you have not previously studied English literature, tell us why you have decided to change your direction of study.
Find out more about how to apply for our postgraduate taught courses.
International
English language requirements
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which your chosen course of study is administered. Note that for some academic departments there are programmes with non-standard English language requirements.
The English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught and research programmes in the School of the Arts fall within the following English band:
Band 5: IELTS (Academic) minimum score 7.0 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking
We accept a range of English tests and qualifications categorised in our English bands for you to demonstrate your level of English Language proficiency. See all accepted English tests that we deem equivalent to these IELTS scores.
Visas and immigration
Find out how to apply for a student visa.