Comparative Literature with Film Studies

Study the similarities and differences between literature written in different places and at different times in the heart of London. The comparative literature degree module choices embrace nine languages, five continents and span over 2,500 years. Each year includes two film studies modules.

Comparative Literature:

• The course draws on the teaching and research expertise of some of the highest ranked literature departments in the UK.
• Flexible degree programme – students have the opportunity to choose from a wide variety courses across a number of departments.
• Central location offers students the opportunity to benefit from London’s unique cultural resources.

Film Studies:

• The best department for the study of film in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2012, 2013).
• The leading dedicated film studies team in central London.
• Friendly and supportive learning environment.
• Central location offers exciting possibilities for further access to film, most notably King's close proximity to the British Film Institute Library, and the new BFI Southbank.
• Provides a grounding for pursuing careers in the media arts and related activities.

Comparative Literature is the study of the similarities and differences between literature written in different places and at different times. In Comparative Literature we don't divide literature up according to where it was written or what language it was written in, as you would if you were studying English or French. Instead we divide literature in other ways, such as by its theme or its genre or the period in which it was written.

The study of Comparative Literature at King's embraces eleven languages and five continents, and spans over 2,500 years. Unlike many similar programmes, Comparative Literature at King's does not just mean comparative modern literature. Alongside acknowledged strengths in 20th-century and contemporary literature, the programme reaches back to the roots of the western and near-eastern literary traditions in classical antiquity and the Bible. Other strengths include medieval literature in English, French, German, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese, and the literatures of North America, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Latin America, and French- and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Options on other art forms, such as film, music, and the visual arts complement and add to the study of literature.

In each year of this programme, two modules are devoted to Film Studies. The aim of Film Studies is to provide students with the conceptual tools for a critical understanding of how society is mediated by cinematic and electronic images, and to give a background for pursuing careers in the media arts and related activities.

Selected students in year three have the opportunity to study in the United States for one semester at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Currently, students study the following core modules. If there are options available the current choices are also shown. King's reviews its optional modules on a regular basis, in order to continue to offer innovative and exciting programmes and this list is therefore subject to change. Please check here for updates, or contact the Department(s) for further advice. You will take Comparative Literature core and optional courses and two Film Studies modules each year.

You will take the core modules plus up to two options in Comparative Literature.

Introduction to Comparative Literature:

• Methods 
• The Writer in the Text 
• Introduction to Comparative Literature: Theories 
• Forms of Shorter Narrative 
• Introduction to Film Studies: Forms 
• Introduction to Film Studies: Contexts

Comparative Literature:

• The Novel in 18th-century Europe 
• Introduction to Modern Greek Poetry 

Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies:

• Greece between East & West since 1800 

Classics:

• Greek Ethics
• Entertainment Cultures in Greece & Rome
• Persuasion & Rhetoric in Greece and Rome

English:

• Writing London 
• Introducing Literary Theories 
• Literature of the Renaissance in England

Portuguese & Brazilian Studies:

• Slavery, Society & Nation in Brazilian Literature

French:

• French Narrative Texts: an Introduction 
• Subjects & Selves: an Introduction to French Thought 
• Texts & Performance: an Introduction to French & Francophone Theatre & Film 

German:

• Medieval Germany: Language, Literature, & Society
• German Literature from Luther to Goethe 
• German Literature from Bchner to Grass 

Italian:

• The Heritage of Dante & the Renaissance (at Royal Holloway, University of London)
• The Age of the Risorgimento (at Royal Holloway, University of London)
• Fascist Italy (at Royal Holloway, University of London)

Spanish:

• Culture & Society in Imperial Spain 
• Latin American Visual Arts, 19th & 20th Century 
• Introduction to Modern Spanish Culture

Modules in Comparative Literature (core and optional courses), and two optional modules in Film Studies.

• Literature of Empire 
• Post-colonial Literature & Theory

Comparative Literature:

• Erotic Poetics from Sappho to Shakespeare
• Travel Writing

American Studies:

• Nineteenth-century American Literature 
• Gender & Identity: American Womens Autobiography 
• American Postwar Fiction

Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies:

• The Byzantine Saint
• Cavafy, Seferis, Ritsos 
• The Novels of Nikos Kazantzakis 

Classics:

• Greek Drama 
• Narrative Literature in Antiquity 
• The Roman Moral Tradition 

English:

• Subjects of Desire in Medieval Literature 
• Jacobean Theatre 
• Augustan Satire 
• Literature & Psychoanalysis 
• Modern Theatre 
• Australian Literature & Film 

French:

• Women & Love in the Renaissance 
• Literature & Enlightenment in the French 18th Century 
• Writing & Politics 
• Twentieth-century Women's Writing 
• Introduction to Francophone African Literatures 
• German:
• Heinrich Heine 
• Modernism & the Avant-Garde 
• Economic Thought & Literature 

Italian:

• Post-War Italian Cinema (at Royal Holloway, University of London)
• Opera & Operatic Culture in Italy (at Royal Holloway, University of London)
• Art & Literature in Renaissance Florence (at Royal Holloway, University of London)

Portuguese & Brazilian Studies:

• Portuguese Erotic Poetics: Medieval to Modern 

Spanish:

• After Franco: Films & Texts of the Transition 
• Perceptions of Modernity: Spanish America 1800-1920 
• Cervantes' Don Quijote 
• Goya & the Dream of Reason 

Film Studies:

• Asian Popular Cinemas
• Cinema & Spectatorship
• Film Authorship
• Film Forms (eg Documentary Film)
• The French New Wave
• Italian Cinema
• Spanish Cinema
• Topics in European Cinema or Topics in World Cinema

Your dissertation must involve a Film Studies element and you will take Comparative Literature & Film Studies options.

Dissertation

Comparative Literature:

• Erotic Poetics from Sappho to Shakespeare
• Travel Writing

American Studies:

• Nineteenth-century American Literature 
• Gender & Identity: American Womens Autobiography 
• American Postwar Fiction

Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies:

• The Byzantine Saint
• Cavafy, Seferis, Ritsos 
• The Novels of Nikos Kazantzakis 

Classics:

• Greek Drama 
• Narrative Literature in Antiquity 
• The Roman Moral Tradition 

English:

• Subjects of Desire in Medieval Literature 
• Jacobean Theatre 
• Augustan Satire 
• Literature & Psychoanalysis 
• Modern Theatre 
• Australian Literature & Film 

French:

• Women & Love in the Renaissance 
• Literature & Enlightenment in the French 18th Century 
• Writing & Politics 
• Twentieth-century Women's Writing 
• Introduction to Francophone African Literatures 

German:

• Heinrich Heine 
• Modernism & the Avant-Garde 
• Economic Thought & Literature 

Italian:

• Post-War Italian Cinema (at Royal Holloway, University of London)
• Opera & Operatic Culture in Italy (at Royal Holloway, University of London)
• Art & Literature in Renaissance Florence (at Royal Holloway, University of London)

Portuguese & Brazilian Studies:

• Portuguese Erotic Poetics: Medieval to Modern 

Spanish:

• After Franco: Films & Texts of the Transition 
• Perceptions of Modernity: Spanish America 1800-1920 
• Cervantes' Don Quijote 
• Goya & the Dream of Reason

Film Studies:

• American Underground Cinema or American Independent Cinema
• Film & Trans-nationalism
• Film Genre, Style & Ideology
• Film Noir or The European Crime Film
• Representation & Identity in Film
• Stardom & Performance
• Third Cinema & Beyond