English Language and Literature, _MLitt

Semester 1

Compulsory Courses

Students must take the following:

Fundamentals of English Language (EL50D2)

30 Credit Points

This core course introduces students to advanced study of the English language. Three key aspects of the structure of English are introduced: the sound patterns of English (phonology); the structure of English words (morphology) and the structure of sentences (syntax). We then consider the relationship between the semantic meaning of linguistic constructions and their pragmatic implications. The course will enable students to refer confidently to the structure and use of the English language in their own research projects, whether the focus is literary or linguistic.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Choose ONE of the following:

Locations and Dislocations: the Role of Place in Literature (EL50C1)

30 Credit Points

This course examines the social, political and cultural construction of place in literary texts. The imaginative co-ordinates of places such as ‘Scotland’, or ‘England’ exist in a constant state of flux, refusing to yield an essential, authentic image. Using core texts from the early modern period paired with more recent literary responses we explore the idea of place in its various forms. Key themes and issues to be discussed will include the rural and urban divide; literature and nationhood; the nature of community; the significance of emigration, and displacement; walking texts, metropolitan literature, and ideas of the “new world”

Detailed course information

The Novel: Environments and Encounters (EL50C5)

30 Credit Points

This module explores how the evolution of the novel form has allowed, and required, authors to find new ways of depicting spaces, places and interactions (between characters in particular environments, but also between characters and their environment). This chronologically wide-ranging course moves from the early days of the novel form through to contemporary fiction, allowing for an opportunity to study the many literary tactics that authors have employed to create the settings for their works – from vast historical backdrops, to natural spaces, to urban environments, to smaller domestic and private places. It also us to consider how different cultural moments have prompted authors to rethink how they represent characters’ encounters with the world around them, and with the other cultures, races, species and genders that inhabit that world. As well as narrative theories, students will have the chance to study canonical and less well-known texts from angles informed by current critical approaches such as ecocriticism, animal studies, postcolonial and queer theory.

Detailed course information

Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Renaissance (EL50D4)

30 Credit Points

This core course is aimed at providing an introduction for students who have chosen the MLitt in Medieval and Early Modern Studies and want to study the Renaissance and early modern period from around 1450 to 1750 through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches.

Detailed course information

Semester 2

Compulsory Courses

Students must take the following:

Approaching English Language and Literature (EL55D1)

30 Credit Points

This core module takes a chronological approach to the development of English literary language (placing this within the context of language as a whole). Four canonical authors in English are used to facilitate the introduction of key concepts and terminology from across stylistics, sociolinguistics and literary studies. It is intended to equip students from the MLitt in English Language and Literature with the knowledge of these disciplines needed to produce a summer research project on their chosen topic. 

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Choose ONE of the following:

Infinite Scotlands: Scotland and the Literary Imagination (EL55C7)

30 Credit Points

This course explores the ways in which place is negotiated in a range of Scottish texts. Looking at a selection of texts about rural, urban, and diasporic experience across the centuries, and including both canonical and lesser-known works, this course will acquaint students with key debates in the study of regional and national fiction. Place in these texts is something to be praised and scorned, embraced and abandoned, but always remains central in any discussion of individual and communal identities. Major themes and issues to be discussed include: the idea of ‘home’; the role of nostalgia and longing in Scottish fiction; the nature of community; the significance of emigration and displacement.

Detailed course information

Writing the Self (EL55C2)

30 Credit Points

What is at stake in writing autobiographical texts? What are the forms writers have used to write themselves? Is autobiography simply, as Oscar Wilde states, the lowest form of criticism? Looking at a range of texts from the Medieval period to the present, with a special focus on women’s writing, this course examines the formal, ethical, political, and aesthetic choices writers make when writing themselves.

Detailed course information

A Social and Textual History of the English Language (EL55C3)

30 Credit Points

Of all ‘Barbarian’ languages, English is one of the longest recorded. This is both a blessing and a curse: there are texts from all periods of the language’s history which are available for study; linguistic and social changes have meant that these texts are often difficult to read. This course will give you the opportunity to learn how best to read these texts the best way this can be done: by reading the texts in an informed manner.

Detailed course information

Semester 3

Compulsory Courses

English Literature and Language Dissertation (EL5919)

60 Credit Points

The Dissertation project is a key part of the MLitt programme. Students complete a significant piece of independent research under the supervision of a specialist in English Language or Literature.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
EU / International students	£22,400
Tuition Fees for 2022/23 Academic Year
Home / RUK	£10,600
Tuition Fees for 2022/23 Academic Year

Semester 1

Compulsory Courses

Approaching English Language and Literature (EL55D1)

30 Credit Points

This core module takes a chronological approach to the development of English literary language (placing this within the context of language as a whole). Four canonical authors in English are used to facilitate the introduction of key concepts and terminology from across stylistics, sociolinguistics and literary studies. It is intended to equip students from the MLitt in English Language and Literature with the knowledge of these disciplines needed to produce a summer research project on their chosen topic. 

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Choose ONE of the following:

Infinite Scotlands: Scotland and the Literary Imagination (EL55C7)

30 Credit Points

This course explores the ways in which place is negotiated in a range of Scottish texts. Looking at a selection of texts about rural, urban, and diasporic experience across the centuries, and including both canonical and lesser-known works, this course will acquaint students with key debates in the study of regional and national fiction. Place in these texts is something to be praised and scorned, embraced and abandoned, but always remains central in any discussion of individual and communal identities. Major themes and issues to be discussed include: the idea of ‘home’; the role of nostalgia and longing in Scottish fiction; the nature of community; the significance of emigration and displacement.

Detailed course information

Writing the Self (EL55C2)

30 Credit Points

What is at stake in writing autobiographical texts? What are the forms writers have used to write themselves? Is autobiography simply, as Oscar Wilde states, the lowest form of criticism? Looking at a range of texts from the Medieval period to the present, with a special focus on women’s writing, this course examines the formal, ethical, political, and aesthetic choices writers make when writing themselves.

Detailed course information

A Social and Textual History of the English Language (EL55C3)

30 Credit Points

Of all ‘Barbarian’ languages, English is one of the longest recorded. This is both a blessing and a curse: there are texts from all periods of the language’s history which are available for study; linguistic and social changes have meant that these texts are often difficult to read. This course will give you the opportunity to learn how best to read these texts the best way this can be done: by reading the texts in an informed manner.

Detailed course information

Semester 2

Compulsory Courses

English Literature and Language Dissertation (EL5919)

60 Credit Points

The Dissertation project is a key part of the MLitt programme. Students complete a significant piece of independent research under the supervision of a specialist in English Language or Literature.

Detailed course information

Semester 3

Compulsory Courses

Fundamentals of English Language (EL50D2)

30 Credit Points

This core course introduces students to advanced study of the English language. Three key aspects of the structure of English are introduced: the sound patterns of English (phonology); the structure of English words (morphology) and the structure of sentences (syntax). We then consider the relationship between the semantic meaning of linguistic constructions and their pragmatic implications. The course will enable students to refer confidently to the structure and use of the English language in their own research projects, whether the focus is literary or linguistic.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Choose ONE of the following:

Locations and Dislocations: the Role of Place in Literature (EL50C1)

30 Credit Points

This course examines the social, political and cultural construction of place in literary texts. The imaginative co-ordinates of places such as ‘Scotland’, or ‘England’ exist in a constant state of flux, refusing to yield an essential, authentic image. Using core texts from the early modern period paired with more recent literary responses we explore the idea of place in its various forms. Key themes and issues to be discussed will include the rural and urban divide; literature and nationhood; the nature of community; the significance of emigration, and displacement; walking texts, metropolitan literature, and ideas of the “new world”

Detailed course information

The Novel: Environments and Encounters (EL50C5)

30 Credit Points

This module explores how the evolution of the novel form has allowed, and required, authors to find new ways of depicting spaces, places and interactions (between characters in particular environments, but also between characters and their environment). This chronologically wide-ranging course moves from the early days of the novel form through to contemporary fiction, allowing for an opportunity to study the many literary tactics that authors have employed to create the settings for their works – from vast historical backdrops, to natural spaces, to urban environments, to smaller domestic and private places. It also us to consider how different cultural moments have prompted authors to rethink how they represent characters’ encounters with the world around them, and with the other cultures, races, species and genders that inhabit that world. As well as narrative theories, students will have the chance to study canonical and less well-known texts from angles informed by current critical approaches such as ecocriticism, animal studies, postcolonial and queer theory.

Detailed course information

Placing the Romantic (EL50C8)

30 Credit Points

From Wordsworth’s lakes to Walter Scott’s Scottish Highlands, the concept of literary Romanticism is irrevocably tied to ideas of place and locale. During the Romantic era colonisation, urbanisation, agricultural reform and conflict all redefined how writers thought and wrote about their place within the world. This course will explore how Romantic texts have engaged with and defined place, looking not just at canonical examples of the romantic English landscape, but also exploring Romanticism’s global reach and Victorian and modern legacies.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
EU / International students	£22,400
Tuition Fees for 2022/23 Academic Year
Home / RUK	£10,600
Tuition Fees for 2022/23 Academic Year