Comparative Literature and English

Comparative literature is the study of literary texts across the boundaries of language, national tradition, genre, and historical period, approaching literature as a global conversation rather than a set of separate national traditions. It asks what connections exist between literatures produced in different cultural and linguistic contexts, how texts travel across languages through translation, how literary forms and ideas migrate between traditions, and what it means to read without the assumption that any one national literature is primary or central. Combining comparative literature with English literary study creates a programme that grounds global literary inquiry in the deep competence of single-language close reading, while English study gains from the comparative perspective that looking beyond it provides.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year full-time degree with a year abroad develops both disciplines across a programme that is genuinely interdisciplinary and genuinely ambitious. The comparative literature component offers the opportunity to read texts of any genre, period, and language, all in English translation, drawing on expertise from across the School of Modern Languages and beyond. You will explore the relationships that exist between literatures from across the world, developing the capacity to analyse texts in their cultural contexts and to make meaningful comparative connections across traditions.

The English strand develops the close reading, critical analysis, and historical knowledge of literature in English that gives the degree its textual grounding. The year abroad provides the opportunity to engage with literary culture and scholarship in a different national academic environment.

Graduates of comparative literature and English enter careers in publishing, literary journalism, cultural journalism, translation, education, arts administration, cultural heritage, and the public sector. The analytical, critical, and communication skills developed by the degree are valued across many professional fields. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in comparative literature, English literature, translation studies, or cultural studies, using the degree's broad and rigorous intellectual formation as a foundation for academic or advanced professional careers in literary and cultural fields.