Comparative Literature Research

Alison
Australian
Comparative Literature Research MPhil/PhD
I came to King’s from Australia with pretty clear ideas about what I wanted to achieve, and from the first day of my PhD those ideas have been nurtured, sometimes challenged and always invigorated. I’ve worked with brilliant academics and had amazing opportunities for travel, leadership, research and teaching. I’ve led a programme of research skills lunches in the English Department, founded a poetry reading group and helped manage a groundbreaking teaching initiative. I’ve also benefited from access to first rate libraries (including the Foyle Special Collections, King’s, and the British Library). King’s has encouraged me to achieve well, and helped me develop the skills and courage to do it.

For me, the benefits of living in London include access to travel, and the fact that every touring dance, theatre and music company comes here. I’ve also spent many happy weekends exploring towns, great houses and parks just outside of the city. As a contemporary Constantinople, London inspires and challenges me to see differently, understand more, and consider people in new ways. 

Laura
Comparative Literature Research MPhil/PhD
I am lucky enough to be involved in one of King’s joint PhD partnership programmes (Internationalisation of Literature and Science since the Early Modern Period Research with University of Stuttgart), and will be spending my second year at the University of Stuttgart under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Richter, whilst my first and third year will be spent in London under the supervision of Dr. Robert Weninger.

My PhD thesis seeks to plot the movement known as existentialism onto literature produced in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Nazi period. It also provides a dual consideration of existentialism as both a philosophical and a theological movement. By engaging the core maxims of existentialist philosophy and twentieth-century Christian theology as the principal methodological backdrop, my dissertation provides a contrastive survey of German religious and existentialist literature that came to fruition following the collapse of the Third Reich. I am looking, in particular, at the existentialist writing of Max Frisch, Arno Schmidt and Alfred Andersch, and the religious fiction of Elisabeth Langgässer and Heinrich Böll.

King’s College London has proven to be an exceptional institution in which to undertake a PhD. Firstly, the quality of supervision is second to none. I have close contact with my first supervisor, whose vast expertise and proficient and encouraging approach are extremely helpful. Secondly, the university awards a number of scholarships and bursaries to doctoral students. Having been lucky enough to receive a full scholarship, I can verify the benefits of such generous financial support. Thirdly, in support of my research on existentialist philosophy, the German Department gave me the opportunity to attend a French language class to assist me with my research on Jean-Paul Sartre.

Finally, King’s offers an invaluable range of library facilities, which include the Maughan Library, the Franklin-Wilkins Library and the University of London Library. All of these attributes reaffirm the status of King’s College London as an outstanding university for doctoral study.