Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture

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The field of nineteenth-century literature and culture has been a particularly dynamic one over recent years and this new MA course reflects this in both its structure and range of modules. It explores the engagement of nineteenth-century literature with a wide range of political, social and aesthetic issues, its variety of styles and genres, and both contemporary and modern critical perspectives.

Full-time students take a core course and one option module during the Autumn Term, and two further modules during the Spring Term. Part-time students take the core course during their first term, then one option module in each following Autumn and Spring Term.

The core course - Questioning the Victorians: Texts, Contexts and Afterlives - surveys the major literary and cultural developments in the period and the central preoccupations of Victorian writing, as formulated by contemporaries and by recent critics and theorists. It introduces key thematic areas and problems in the interpretation of nineteenth-century literature across a broad range of genres.

The option modules allow for more specialised study of particular issues relevant to the study of nineteenth-century literature and its historical, social and political contexts. A distinctive feature of this MA is the flexibility it provides for a student to specialize within the Victorian period or to explore a range of research interests across the nineteenth century, including interdisciplinary options from departments such as History and History of Art. Option modules may include:

* 'Ay me! ay me!': The First Person in Nineteenth-Century Poetry;
* Forms of Enquiry: Poetry and Poetics, 1850-1922;
* Victorian Historical Fictions;
* Strangers to Ourselves: Dickens and Collins;
* Victorian Performances;
* Cultures of Life Writing: the Victorians; Flaubert and After;
* Henry James;
* Byron. Interdisciplinary options may include: Radical Identities in Britain in the Age of Romanticism, 1819-1850;
* Gendering the Exotic, Exoticising Gender;
* Railway Nationalisms and Imperialisms;
* American Landscape in the Nineteenth-Century;
* Sculpture in England, 1848-99;
* Visuality and Painting in France and England 1850-1914.

The programme is fully modularised and divided into 4 taught modules (one compulsory, three option), a research skills training programme, and a research dissertation.

Core
The core course surveys the major literary and cultural developments in the period and the central preoccupations of Victorian writing, as formulated by contemporaries and by recent critics and theorists. It introduces key thematic areas and problems in the interpretation of nineteenth-century literature across a broad range of genres.

* Questioning the Victorians: Texts, Contexts and Afterlives


Options
The option modules allow for more specialised study of particular issues relevant to the study of nineteenth-century literature and its historical, social and political contexts. A distinctive feature of this MA is the flexibility it provides for a student to specialize within the Victorian period or to explore a range of research interests across the nineteenth century, including interdisciplinary options from departments including History and History of Art.

Available option modules may include:

* Rebels, Riots and Religion in the 1840s
* Poetry and the Visual Arts
* Strangers to Ourselves: Dickens and Collins
* Henry James
* Byron and Romantic Performances
* Humouring Poetry
* The British Country House
* Contact Zones: Art and Culture in the British Empire
* Radical Identities in Britain in the Age of Romanticism, 1819-1850
* Gendering the Exotic, Exoticising Gender
* Railway Nationalisms and Imperialisms
* Representing the City, 1750-1850
* American Landscape in the Nineteenth-Century
* Sculpture in England, 1848-99
* Visuality and Painting in France and England 1850-1914

Option modules will vary from year to year according to staff availability, and will run subject to minimum numbers. Option modules may also be taken in other arts and humanities departments.

Candidates for admission to the MA degree should normally have a good honours degree or its equivalent in an appropriate subject. Applicants for whom English is a second language are normally expected to have achieved one of the following scores: IELTS: 7.0; TOEFL: 620 (paper-based test)/260 (computer-based test)/105 (internet-based test); or (preferably) Cambridge Proficiency: A or B. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 7 CAE score: (read more) Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) is part of the Cambridge English suite and is targeted at a high level (IETLS 6.5-8.0). It is an international English language exam set at the right level for academic and professional success. Developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment - part of the University of Cambridge - it helps you stand out from the crowd as a high achiever. 80 (Grade A) TOEFL paper-based test score : 620 TOEFL iBT® test: 105 IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.