’The pen is mightier than the sword’. Books can provoke, can send tremors through the corridors of power and can lead to censorship and death threats. Literature can move backwards and forwards in time, can leap from place to place, can encounter experiences that are only to be found in the imagination, and can describe people’s thoughts, feelings and ideas.
The degree course in Literature Studies sets out from the assumption that reading is a pleasurable experience. However, not all literature is equally accessible. On the course we will refine your reading experience so that you will be better able to understand, explain and interpret literature. This happens in part through:
- Close reading and analysis of literary works
- Working with literary concepts, theories and methods
Analytical work focuses both on the content aspect of literature (its statement) and on its aesthetic form.
Literature is interpreted in the context of:
- Its history
- Its social background
- Its cultural context