English Literature MA

Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about the lived and imagined experiences of individuals and communities over time and in different parts of the world.

Studying the English Literature MA at Brunel gives you the opportunity to uncover the richness of the history of storytelling in English – by expanding your knowledge of different periods, types of writing, and writers themselves. Through the course you will learn identify patterns, themes, and literary structures that act as windows to deeper understanding in your own reading.

Whether your goal is to explore a long-held interest, to build on previous studies, or to benefit your career as a teacher, researcher, or scholar, at the MA in English Literature at Brunel keeps you close to one of the literary capitals of the world.

Your journey begins with an introductory module on ‘Reading, Writing and Research’ to help equip you with critical kills and competencies in the discipline of literary studies. Mastering these reading, research, and critical strategies will give you confidence to pursue your interests on any given topic, and particularly the development of your own large research project – the MA dissertation.

Three additional coursework modules dive deeper into specific periods, writers, and forms, and introduce you to key methodologies for critical and historical reading. These include ‘Author Study’ where you will explore a single author or group of authors from a list that includes: John Keats and P.B. Shelley; Jane Austen; the Brontes; Charles Dickens. You might encounter a modernist writer like Virginia Woolf or Katherine Mansfield, or postmodernist and experimental writers such as B.S. Johnson and J.G. Ballard. This module explores how ideas of ‘The Author’ and ‘authorship’ shape our encounter with literary texts and traditions, and the possibilities – and problematics – of biographical approaches to the study of fiction.

‘Literary Decade’ immerses you in the literary and cultural aspects of a single decade from a range including the 1790s, 1810s 1850s, 1890s, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. This module explores periodisation as a lens for literary production and encounter, crossing into neighbouring disciplines like history, philosophy, and politics to enrich your reading along the way.

You will also have the opportunity to cover more contemporary works in ‘Postmillennial Literature’ including texts from the rich field of twenty-first century Anglophone writing, which includes science fiction and fantasy; LGBT writing, experimental fiction, and Anglophile writing post 9/11.

The final and crowning accomplishment of your postgraduate degree is the dissertation – a personal research project of 15,000 words. After a series of research development and planning workshops designed to help you grow your personal project, you will work with a dedicated supervisor to undertake original and critical research on an agreed aspect of literature in English from the early modern to contemporary periods. This experience provides critical research, writing, and project management skills that you can take into any aspect of your professional life, and is frequently a stepping stone to further postgraduate study!

Outside our seminars and workshops, you can look forward to a rich calendar of literary events and activities organised by the English and Creative Writing department at Brunel, including the Hillingdon Literary Festival and Nero Book Awards, Brunel’s ‘Big Read’, and the unmatched literary and cultural life of London itself. Postgraduate study can be a turning point in professional and personal life. Write your own future with us at Brunel!

You can explore our campus and facilities for yourself by taking our virtual tour.

The English Literature MA will provide you with a deeper understanding of English literature’s rich past, as you develop key investigative research skills relevant to literary studies. You will study five compulsory modules, four of which will cover a range of texts and the fifth will be in preparation your dissertation. 

This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel

An English master’s will equip you with a set of enviable skills which are vital for careers in publishing, print and electronic media, the culture industries and education.

Your skills will also be attractive to employers within sectors where accuracy in the written descriptive word is a central feature, including law, the civil service, advertising, marketing, financial services and business.

Above all, an MA in English Literature will benefit your own writing, critique and self-expression.

If, at the end of the course, you decide to continue your studies to doctoral level, you will have the essential research skills, and the opportunity, to join a flourishing research culture at Brunel.

Your knowledge will be assessed using a variety of methods including written work (essays and a dissertation), oral presentations, seminar attendance and performance, and the organisation and planning of your dissertation.

Some of your assessments will be formative, providing you with feedback but not graded, to enable you to improve and work towards graded assessments.

Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.