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Education Master's and PhD degree programmes European Literatures and Interculturality
Header image European Literatures and Interculturality

European Literatures and Interculturality

How do literature and culture interact with and reflect on socio-political challenges such as the EU (dis)integration, rise of populism or migration crises?

How can literature facilitate inclusion, empathy and intercultural awareness, and contribute to sustainable societies and environmental issues? How can literary analysis be applied to other cultural forms or productions? What does it mean when we say: “culture is political” and “politics is cultural”?

In the Master's track European Literatures and Interculturality, you will explore the connection between literature and culture in the processes of nation-building, the formation of attitudes towards migration, environmental issues and other socio-political issues. This track teaches you academic skills and approaches that will prepare you to operate as a cultural expert wherever texts are involved: in the media, institutions and networks.

Each course builds on a theoretical foundation and simultaneously trains your research skills and ability to communicate with a range of different audiences. This unique and innovative literature programme is based on cutting-edge research in literary studies, is international in scope and comprises several modern European languages. You will follow courses in which you study and compare literatures originally written in French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish in a global perspective. You can choose to read the books in the original version or in translation.

The Master's track in European Literatures and Interculturality is located at the Department of European Languages and Cultures. This international, interdisciplinary and multilingual environment offers excellent opportunities for research and immerses them in vibrant networks of experts across different European countries and languages.

Facts & Figures
Degree
MA in Literary Studies
Course type
Master
Duration
12 months (60 ECTS)
Croho code
60813
Language of instruction
English
Start
September
Faculty
Arts
Why study this programme in Groningen?
  • Expert: the programme offers the opportunity to become an expert in one of the target languages and to develop abstract and analytical thinking in relation to intercultural practices
  • Group size: we work in small groups in which all students' active participation and input are highly valued
  • Innovative and diverse: we value original ideas and foster the encounter of diversified perspectives. Our staff members also distinguish themselves by their innovative research and teaching methods
  • International: our staff have received their doctorates from a variety of Dutch and international universities (Pisa, Freiburg, Nottingham, Cambridge, Leiden, Munich)
  • Employability: intercultural and transferrable skills
Programme
Semesters
CoursesCourse Catalog >1a1b2a2b
European Cultures, Democracy, and Futurity (10 EC)
Interdisciplinary Seminars (10 EC, optional)
Theoretical Approaches to European Literature (10 EC)
Masterlanguage Courses (5 EC, optional)
European Literatures in a (Dis)Connected World (10 EC)
Master's Thesis (written in the target language) (20 EC)
Master's Work placement (10 EC, optional)

Curriculum

The programme consists of 1) the compulsory course "Theoretical approaches to European literature" in which selected literary theories will be applied to literary analysis; 2) two courses of 10 credits each on European literature; 3) one Interdisciplinary seminar where the student can focus on a particular topic such as representations of space or migrant literature, and 4) a thesis (20 credits).

It is possible to replace the Interdisciplinary seminar by a Master's placement.

In addition to the range of course units provided by the track itself, students can also follow Masterlanguage courses. Masterlanguage is a national programme that offers courses for students of German, French, Italian and Spanish. The courses are taught in the target language and are jointly organised by lecturers from Radboud University, the University of Groningen, Leiden University, Utrecht University, the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam. More information about the courses, entry requirements and registration can be found on the Masterlanguage website: https://masterlanguage.nl/en/. You may follow Masterlanguage courses in consultation with the Board of Examiners of your Master's degree programme.

Study abroad

  • Study abroad is optional
Entry requirements

Transfer options

Transferring from...

Study programmeOrganizationTransition
European Languages and CulturesUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

Profile Culture and Literature

Minorities & MultilingualismUniversity of Groningen

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Study programmeOrganizationTransition
European Languages and CulturesAll Research universities

No additional requirements

More information:

Profile Literature and Culture

Slavische Talen en CulturenAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Romaanse Talen en CulturenAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Scandinavische Talen en CulturenAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

European StudiesAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Duitse Taal en CultuurAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Franse Taal en CultuurAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Spaanse Taal en CultuurAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Italiaanse Taal en CultuurAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Minorities & MultilingualismAll Research universities

Additional requirements

More information:

See admission requirements

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Students with a University of Groningen Bachelor's Degree in European Languages and Cultures (profile: Culture and Literature), have direct access to the Master Literary Studies, track European Literatures and Interculturality.

Students with a Dutch or foreign Bachelor's degree that indicates that they have knowledge and understanding of and subject-specific skills in literary and/or cultural studies may be admitted to the track European Literatures and Interculturality, but have to go through the LitStudies Admission Board.

language test

Additional English language requirement: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 90 (with a minimum of 21 on all items), or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 on all items). Cambridge: C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180.

other admission requirements

Students with an international diploma should fill in the checklist. This checklist needs to be uploaded via the Progress Portal when applying for this programme.

Registration procedure

Note: it's only possible to a very limited extent to start in February. For more information, please contact the study advisor.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

Students with a University of Groningen Bachelor's Degree in European Languages and Cultures (profile: Culture and Literature), have direct access to the Master Literary Studies, track European Literatures and Interculturality.

Students with a Dutch or foreign Bachelor's degree that indicates that they have knowledge and understanding of and subject-specific skills in literary and/or cultural studies may be admitted to the track European Literatures and Interculturality, but have to go through the LitStudies Admission Board.

language test

Additional English language requirement: A VWO diploma or a subject certificate for VWO English (mark 6 or higher), minimum requirement of TOEFL iBT 90 (with a minimum of 21 on all items), or IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 on all items). Cambridge: C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 180.

other admission requirements

Students with an international diploma should fill in the checklist. This checklist needs to be uploaded via the Progress Portal when applying for this programme.

Registration procedure

Note: it's only possible to a very limited extent to start in February. For more information, please contact the study advisor.

Application deadlines

Type of studentDeadlineStart course
Dutch students15 August 202501 September 2025
EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025
non-EU/EEA students01 May 202501 September 2025
Tuition fees
NationalityYearFeeProgramme form
EU/EEA2024-2025€ 2530full-time
non-EU/EEA2024-2025€ 18700full-time

Practical information for:

After your studies

Job prospects

The track aims to provide you with academic skills and approaches that will prepare you to operate as a cultural expert wherever texts are involved: in the private sphere, in the media, in institutions and in networks. You learn to analyse these processes and functions, to solve problems and to communicate about them clearly and with flair.

Job examples

  • Researcher (PhD)
  • Book editing and publishing
  • Cultural functions such as:
    • Cultural Analyst
    • Project officer/coordinator/manager
    • Cultural Policy Advisor
    • Research Associate
    • Cultural entrepreneur
  • Journalism
  • Translation
Research

Staff and Student Research

The research projects of staff members are innovative and international and range from the analysis of (offensive) humor in controversial cartoons to garden writings and sustainability, from digital media representations to literary self-identification of marginalized or minority groups..

Students have a free choice of dissertation subjects within the areas of staff expertise and are encouraged to develop new and innovative approaches and ideas. Examples of topics that have been proposed by our students focus for example on decolonial or postcolonial discourses, on trauma and exile, on ecocriticsm or on concepts such as transculturality and heterotopia through in-depth analysis of contemporary case studies. Examples of dissertations are:

  • From a barren desert to a microbial jungle: Deep-sea narratives in the Anthropocene
  • Heimat als Heterotopie: Ortlosigkeit und Vielortigkeit der neuen Heimat in Keuns Kind aller Länder und Stanišićs Herkunft
  • Le transculturalisme littéraire à travers deux « intrangères » issues de l’exil. Une comparaison entre L’art de perdre d’Alice Zeniter et Marx et la poupée de Maryam Madjidi
  • Trauma - Ironi i ungdomsromanen Tio över ett. Hur kolliderande former skapar en personlig bild av Kirunas flyttning
  • Ambivalent feminism: Hashtagification, YouTubification, and Eurovisionization of women's rights in Russia

Dissertations may be supervised by any appropriate member of staff. The following list indicates the areas of expertise of the various staff members:

Vera Alexander: English and Anglophone Literatures and Cultures, Ecocriticism, Travel writing and mobility, Life Writing, Bildungsroman, Children’s Literature, Place, Space, Heterotopia, Diaspora, Transculturality.

Alberto Godioli: Humour and satire across media; Law and Humanities; Comparative literature, 19th-21st centuries; Italian literature and culture, including film; Modernism; Posthumanism.

Ester Jiresch: Scandinavian Literature, Culture, and History, Swedish Politics, Scandinavian Crime Novel, Modern European Culture and History, Gender Studies.

Florian Lippert: Modern German literature, Modern European literature and culture, Film Studies, The European migrant crisis, Literary Theory, Film Theory, Reception Theory, Critical Theory, Systems Theory, Art and Literature in Philosophy, Sociology and Politics, Self-reflexivity, Surveillance.

Hugh McDonnell: 20th Century French and Spanish Political, Social and Cultural History, French and Spanish Politics, Culture, Identity, and Politics, The Idea of Europe and European Identity, Political Theory.

Konstantin Mierau: Empirical Study of Literary Reception, Prison Reading, Digimodernism and Literature, Spanish Golden Age Literature, The (Spanish) Picaresque Novel.

Ksenia Robbe: Russian Literature and Culture, Eastern European and Postsocialist studies, Postcolonial and Decolonial Theory, Memory and Time Studies, Feminism and Gender studies, South African Literature and Culture, Visual Art, Museums, Theatre and Performance, Aesthetics and Politics.

Camilla Sutherland: Contemporary Spanish-Language Literature, Women Writers, Gender Studies, Spatial Theory, Latin American Literature and Culture, Global Modernisms, Avant-gardes, Art History, Film Studies, Theatre and Performance.

Jeanette den Toonder: Contemporary French and francophone Literature, Migrant and Minority Literature, Literary Theory, Comparative Literature, Contemporary Quebec novel, Gender studies, Spatial Theory, Life Writing, Transculturality.

Pablo Valdivia: Multidisciplinary Humanities Research, Cultural Analytics, Cultural Narratives, Narrative Theory, Metaphor Theory, European Literature and Culture, Comparative Literary Studies, Film Studies, Visual Studies, Literature and Culture from the Golden Age till the Present, Art History, Theatre, Poetry, European Politics and Culture, Spanish and Latin American Literature, Culture and Society.

Vera Veldhuizen: Children’s Literature, Young Adult/Adolescent Literature, Picture books, Fairy tales, Fables, Narrative Empathy, Script Theory, Irish Literature, War Literature, Literary Theory, Cognitive Studies.

Judith Jansma: French and Francophone Literatures and Culture, Literature and societal conflict, Populist narratives of (national) identity, Feminism and Gender Studies, Critical Discourse Analysis

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