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English – Contemporary Literature MA

Key Facts

  • Level

    Master'sPG MA

  • Duration

    Full Time: 1 year
    Part Time: 2 - 4 years

  • Starting

    September

Updated 23/09/2024

Updated 23/09/2024

Get in touch

For questions regarding study and admissions please contact us:

UK/EU STUDENTS ENQUIRIES

study@northampton.ac.uk
0300 303 2772

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ENQUIRIES

international@northampton.ac.uk
44 (0)1604 892134

Overview


This exciting English – Contemporary Literature MA course examines the role of contemporary literature in a number of different contexts. You will have the chance to explore a diverse range of texts, across varied modules, with the chance to explore a topic of your choice in specialist detail through your dissertation. You could study post-1945 classics, including late modernists like Samuel Beckett, as well as surveying the latest novels.

On this Contemporary Literature MA, you may explore specialist fields such as trauma fiction or gender and sexuality, master the latest literary theories, or investigate new genres and popular narrative media, including contemporary gothic literature, film, video games and comic books.

Highlights


  • Research-informed modules on current topics.
  • Flexible evening study time.
  • This English Literature masters course is eligible for the master’s loan.

Entry Requirements


To apply for the MA in English (Contemporary Literature), we normally ask that you have a Bachelor’s degree in English, or a related discipline, at 2:1 or higher. Applications with alternative qualifications or experience and from overseas students are welcomed and will be assessed in accordance with the University’s Admissions Policy and Academic Regulations.

For more more information on how to make an application, please visit our How to Apply page.

If you are an International student and would like information on making an application, please see our How to Apply page.

  • All International and EU students applying for a course with us must meet the following minimum English language requirements:

    • Minimum standard – IELT 6.5 (or equivalent)
      for study at master’s level.

    For information regarding English language requirements at the University, please see our IELTS page.

Course Content


  • The English – Contemporary Literature MA programme is built to encourage you to not only examine the contemporary moment – our time, our culture – in isolation, but to use contemporary literature as a window to broader concerns: literary traditions and heritage, politics and society, personal identity and representation.

    Full-time English Literature Masters students will take two 30 credit modules in each of two terms, followed by the dissertation. The four modules to be offered in any given year are pre-selected by the tutors from the list below.

    Part-time students can take the course over two or three years. In both cases, the first year will contain one module in each of two terms, amounting to 60 credits. If you choose to study over two years, the second year will contain one module in each of two terms, plus the dissertation, amounting to 120 credits.

    If you choose to study over three years, the second year will contain one module in each of two terms, amounting to 60 credits, and the third year will involve the dissertation only, to make up the final 60 credits (please note: student loans are not normally available to those studying the three-year option).

    All modules will be taught in the evenings (6-9pm) allowing you to take your English Literature masters degree entirely outside of normal working hours.

    Dissertation

    The dissertation, provides greater opportunity for choice of topics and allows you the chance to master a specific area reflecting your own interests and chosen approaches.

    Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 24/25. The modules relating to the academic year 25/26 will be available from June 2025.

      • Module code: LITM033
        Status: Compulsory
        The purpose of this module is to introduce students to a variety of methods applicable to research in contemporary literary and cultural studies. It delivers key guidance on master?s level study, promotes an informed awareness of theoretical models, and helps students use theoretical concepts in textual analysis.
      • Module code: LITM040
        Status: Compulsory
        The purpose of this module is to examine trauma literature since the 1980s in the context of contemporary trauma theory. Focussing on concepts such as unrepresentability, aporia and narrative rupture, it analyses the relationship between narrative form and traumatic subject matter and how texts transform traumatic memory into narrative events.
      • Module code: LITM041
        Status: Compulsory
        The purpose of this module is to explore the nature of adaptation in popular media and the different ways it has been studied. Adaptation occurs between many different forms and modes and the module will examine new and different ways to view adaptation as, for example, translation, appropriation, or reimagining.
      • Module code: LITM042
        Status: Compulsory
        The purpose of this module is to examine Shakespeare as a facet of contemporary culture, principally through its manifestations in recent fiction and film. Discussions of Shakespeare?s cultural ubiquity and longevity will be framed by concepts such as power, ideology, discourse, hegemony, presentism, appropriation, adaptation, and performance.
      • Module code: LITM043
        Status: Compulsory
        The purpose of this module is to provide an opportunity to carry out independent research of considerable depth over a sustained period of time on a topic of their own choosing, working with a supervisor to build on and extend scholarly understanding of contemporary literature.
  • How will I be taught on English – Contemporary Literature MA?

    Modules are taught face to face in small groups, with occasional preparatory work and consolidation activities that are completed online, with tutor guidance.

    How will I be assessed on the English Literature Masters?

    Assessment varies from module to module, but there are currently no exams for this course. Previous modules have used annotated bibliographies, essays, online discussion forums, critical explications and presentations as forms of assessment. Your final assessment consists of a 15,000 word dissertation.

    Are there any specialist facilities and features?

    You will benefit from

    • a specialist understanding of contemporary culture
    • close attention from staff with research expertise
    • freedom to choose your own dissertation topic for in-depth research

Fees and Funding


2024/25 Tuition Fees

Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 24/25 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.

  • UK – Full Time: £8,250
  • UK – Part Time: £4,600 Year one (100 credits) £3,680 Year two (80 Credits)
  • International: £16,995

For information on the scholarships available to you, please see our scholarships page.

For more information about possible funding options, please visit our Fees and Funding pages.

  • We do ask that you buy the prescribed primary texts for each module. We carefully review the costs of every module each year, so that they do not exceed £100 per module. In practice, by using libraries, freely available online resources and second-hand copies of books, costs are often less than half of this total figure.

    You will have the chance to attend a range of research seminars, conferences, field trips and other activities beyond the curriculum for free or at minimal cost.

    • UK – Full Time: £8,010
    • UK – Part Time: £4,450 Year one (100 credits) £3,560 Year two (80 Credits)
    • International: £16,500
  • If you are starting a master’s course in 2024/25  either full-time or part-time*, you may be able to apply for a master’s loan through Student Finance England.

Staff


Claire Allen, Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing

Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing
Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology

Claire Allen
Sonya Andermahr, Reader in English Studies

Reader in English Studies
English – Contemporary Literature MA

Sonya Andermahr
Phillippa Bennett, Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing

Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing
Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology

Phillippa Bennett
Richard Chamberlain, Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing

Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing
Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology

Richard Chamberlain
Lorna Jowett, Professor of Media and Culture

Professor of Media and Culture
Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology

Lorna Jowett
David Simmons, Senior Lecturer in English & Screen Studies

Senior Lecturer in English & Screen Studies
English – Contemporary Literature MA

David Simmons
Mike Starr, Associate Professor in Film & Screen Studies

Associate Professor in Film & Screen Studies
Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology

Mike Starr
Rod Rosenquist, Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing

Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing
English – Contemporary Literature MA

Rod Rosenquist

Careers and Employability


English Masters students who have studied with us have gone on to a variety of careers, including:

  • teaching
  • adult education
  • journalism
  • theatre management
  • marketing
  • editorial work with major publishers
  • librarianship
  • arts administration
  • museum and curatorial work
  • librarianship
  • bookselling
  • social work training
  • management trainee schemes with large companies
  • local government
power-of-now

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