Program Overview

Comparative Literature MPhil/PhD

The Comparative Literature MPhil/PhD is a research degree that allows students to engage critically with the study of comparative literature across two or more linguistic, regional, or national contexts. The program is ideal for those who wish to pursue original research and submit a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words.

Course Overview

This research degree is offered full-time or part-time, on campus, and requires students to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support their research. The program's research focus is on French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish-speaking cultures in a transnational context.

Key Information

• Duration: 4 years full-time or 7 years part-time
• Style of study: On campus
• Status: Fully Approved
• Awarding body: University of London
• Attendance: Regular meetings with supervisor(s)

Entry Requirements

• Usually, a good first degree in an arts or humanities subject
• Specific indication of research interests or outline of proposed research prior to interview
• English language requirements: IELTS Academic Test score of 7.0, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests

English Language Requirements

If English is not the first language or the student has not previously studied in English, they must meet the English language requirements. Pre-sessional English courses, foundation programs, and language support services are available to help improve English language skills.

Visa and Funding Requirements

International students may need to apply for a visa, and the type of visa varies depending on the length of the course. Students receiving US Federal Aid can only apply for in-person, on-campus programs with no elements of online study.

Fees

• Part-time home students: Ł2,656 per year (academic year 2025-26)
• Full-time home students: Ł5,006 per year (academic year 2025-26)
• Part-time international students: Ł7,870 per year (academic year 2025-26)
• Full-time international students: Ł15,570 per year (academic year 2025-26)
• Fees for academic year 2026-27 to be confirmed

Research Culture

The program offers a vibrant research culture, with regular PhD colloquia, research seminars, and conferences. Students are encouraged to discuss their research program with former students and staff.

Training and Methodology

Students attend a research skills course in their first year and receive advice from their supervisor on planning their thesis, research techniques, and publication of research results.

How to Apply

To apply, students must:

1. Check they meet the entry requirements
2. Find a potential supervisor
3. Contact the academic member of staff for an informal discussion
4. Draft a research proposal
5. Apply directly to Birkbeck using the online application link

Finding a Supervisor

A crucial factor in applying for postgraduate study in comparative literature is finding a supervisor whose research interests align with the applicant's. The program's academic staff have a wide range of research interests, including:

• Canon formation
• French language, literature, and culture
• German language, literature, and culture
• Japanese language, literature, and culture
• Literary and film history
• Intermediality, intertextuality, and translation across genres and media
• Portuguese language, literature, and culture
• Spanish language, literature, and culture
• Transnational cultural theory and criticism
• Visual culture

Research Areas

The program's indicative areas of research include:

• Canon formation
• French language, literature, and culture
• German language, literature, and culture
• Japanese language, literature, and culture
• Literary and film history
• Intermediality, intertextuality, and translation across genres and media
• Portuguese language, literature, and culture
• Spanish language, literature, and culture
• Transnational cultural theory and criticism
• Visual culture

Academic Staff

The program's academic staff have a wide range of research interests and expertise, including:

• Agnčs Calatayud: cinema and postcolonial studies
• Damian Catani: nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature; evil in modern French thought and literature; Mallarmé; Baudelaire; visual arts
• Peter Damrau: devotional literature of the seventeenth century; women's writing of the eighteenth century
• Nicolette David: critical theory, especially psychoanalysis and gender; drama and the novel in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; German and Austrian Modernism; Weimar Culture; film studies
• Professor Mari Paz Balibrea Enríquez: modern Spanish literature and cultural studies
• Irene González-López: Japanese cinema and modern and contemporary Japanese visual cultures; gender and sexuality studies, feminist film theory; representations of sex work in popular culture and media; Japanese female directors and female authorship; adaptations and remakes; stardom and authorship
• Akane Kawakami: twentieth- and twenty-first-century French literature; orientalism and travel writing; photography and autobiography
• Professor Joanne Leal: twentieth- and twenty-first-century German literature and film, especially literature/film and gender; the recent German novel; the films of Wim Wenders and Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• Ann Lewis: eighteenth-century literature and culture; text-and-image relations (especially illustration)
• Professor Luciana Martins: visuality and modernity in Latin America and the Caribbean; cinematic landscapes; urban encounters and performance; cross-cultural histories of tropical botany in Latin America; travel and image-making; cultural heritage in Latin America
• Anna Richards: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German literature, especially the novel and its medical historical context; women's writing
• Michael Tsang: East Asian literatures; East Asian popular cultures; world literature; postcolonial theory; gender studies; critical theory
• Nathalie Wourm: new French writing; literature in mixed media; post-structuralist and anti-capitalist thought in contemporary literature