MA Comparative Literature and Intensive Language is a radical rethinking of the literature of the world and their relationships to each other. Go beyond Euro-American literary canons and redefine ‘the classics’. The MA in Comparative Literature is an opportunity to study literature from the regions of Africa and Asia.

The MA in Comparative Literature course is ideal for students who want to look beyond conventional literary canons and engage in a comparative study across a wide range of cultures. Study literature from five different continents covering over 2,500 years, and compare literature written in many different languages from across the world and from antiquity to the present day. We offer a unique range of options from the ancient world right up to twenty-first-century European, Asian, Middle Eastern, African, and American literature as well as the opportunity to develop your language skills.

The opportunity to move from the familiar Euro-American literary canons into the fresh but less well-known worlds of African and Asian literature is what attracts most students to this popular MA. While exploring new horizons and breaking out of the Euro-centric space in which comparative literature has developed so far, the programme covers the major theoretical contributions made by Western scholars.

This degree is designed to give you an exciting exploration of literary and cultural products and critical issues that span national and linguistic borders as well as periods. You will become acquainted with the theory and practice of comparative literary and cultural studies, consider how concepts of national cultures cross borders and media forms, and interact with ideas of the transnational and intermedial.

The Comparative Literature course focuses primarily on how modern Western and Japanese literature have influenced each other. However, the discipline goes further than merely listing the relationships between specific works in the sense of a balance sheet or ingredients label. In the study of Comparative Literature, one is required to critique the major premise of globalization in literature (which brought about acceptance and transformation) and the corresponding resistance to it.

The School of International Chinese Studies at East China Normal University accepts applications from international students interested in pursuing a 3-year research-oriented program for a Master degree in Literature. The program is based on ECNU’s main campus in Shanghai. Our program focus is on Chinese literature and culture, and we encourage comparative studies between China and other cultures as we strongly believe that literary and cultural dialogue is very necessary for the world.

The multidisciplinary, multimedia M.A. in Comparative Literature at The Graduate Center prepares you for a range of exciting professional opportunities -- whether you decide to earn a doctoral degree or pursue a career in film, translation, education, media, or the arts. Our affordable, flexible program meets the needs of busy professionals, with conveniently scheduled late afternoon and evening classes taught by world-class scholars.