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Education Master's and PhD degree programmes Literary Studies
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Literary Studies

Are you interested in the study of literature? Investigate our tracks to see the courses we offer.

The one-year Master's degree in Literary Studies offers three tracks: European Literatures and Interculturality, English Literature and Culture and Writing, Editing and Mediating.

In the track in European Literatures and Interculturality you study the arts and literature of Europe. You explore subjects such as the impact of globalization on European literature; and the shifting of world views within European art. You focus on the language and culture you studied as a Bachelor's student.

The track in English Literature and Culture explores English literary classics and new works of English literature in their cultural context. As a student of this programme, you can draw from the full historical and geographical sweep of literatures in the English language.

In the Writing, Editing and Mediating track you focus on all aspects of writing, editing and publishing. You will improve your English writing and editing skills. In addition, you will learn to help others in their writing process. The track is meant for graduates with a near-native command of the English language.

Read more about the discipline of European Languages and Cultures.

Read more about the discipline of English Language and Culture.

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?
Programme
Programme options
Writing, Editing and Mediating (WEM) (track)

What makes a text a good or captivating English text? How do you recognize repetitions, inconsistencies, faulty logic and other problems in English texts? What does it take to guide a text from writer to reader?.Working with English texts in a professional setting involves a special set of skills. The Writing, Editing and Mediating Master's track (often abbreviated to WEM), offers students a choice of courses that focus on non-fiction and fiction writing for specific audiences, the history of texts in their various forms (from manuscript to digital book), proof-reading and correcting English texts, and producing texts for publication. Topics addressed include censorship, copyright, scholarly editions, and social issues in contemporary literature.Students on the course typically have a BA in English or in an Anglophone culture (e.g. American Studies). Some students with other humanities qualifications and a sufficient level of academic English are accepted by the admissions board. In all cases, a good background in literary studies is required (60 ECTS)The one-year Master's track in Writing, Editing and Mediating (WEM) is a track within the Master's degree in Literary Studies and is run by the Department of English Language and Culture. It is taught and assessed wholly in English and focuses on English texts.

More information about this option

European Literatures and Interculturality (track)

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.

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English Literature and Culture (track)

Literary study is socially relevant: from the medieval to the modern, it maps the forces which divide and unite people. English is the global language of cultural exchange and experiment.

The themes of conflict and co-operation are at the core of the Master's track in English Literature and Culture, a programme that allows students a broad choice from a range of modules drawing on the full historical and geographical sweep of literatures in English.

It is a key tenet of the track that the academic study of English literature can be used to reflect on the ways that people - as individuals and as groups - interact with one another, and that it provides a catalyst for insight into contemporary social debates. Literature captures the separation and the solidarity of its writers and audiences in a manner particular to itself: it is a multidisciplinary practice that is as diverse as the texts it studies. The programme's core themes of conflict and co-operation are linked to sustainable society, a research priority of the university.For more information see: English Language & Culture.

More information about this option

Entry requirements

Admission requirements

Specific requirementsMore information
previous education

For specific information on the entry requirements for the MA track English Literature and Culture, see: https://www.rug.nl/masters/english-literature-and-culture/#!requirements

For specific information on the entry requirements for the MA track European Literatures and Interculturality, see: https://www.rug.nl/masters/european-literatures-and-interculturality/#!requirements

For specific information on the entry requirements for the MA track Writing, Editing and Mediating, see: https://www.rug.nl/masters/writing-editing-and-mediating/#!requirements

language test

Writing, Editing and Mediating / English Literature and Culture: Additional English language requirement: a TOEFL iBT with a score of 110 (min. of 25 on all items); an IELTS, Academic Module, with a score of 8 (min. of 7.5 on all items); ERK level C1. Cambridge C1 Advanced (level A) or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 200. If your BA does not certify this, you may have to take an appropriate language test.

European Literatures and Interculturality: 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 language requirements for European Literatures and Interculturality can be found under the entry requirements for that track.

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

For specific information on the entry requirements for the MA track English Literature and Culture, see: https://www.rug.nl/masters/english-literature-and-culture/#!requirements

For specific information on the entry requirements for the MA track European Literatures and Interculturality, see: https://www.rug.nl/masters/european-literatures-and-interculturality/#!requirements

For specific information on the entry requirements for the MA track Writing, Editing and Mediating, see: https://www.rug.nl/masters/writing-editing-and-mediating/#!requirements

language test

Writing, Editing and Mediating / English Literature and Culture: Additional English language requirement: a TOEFL iBT with a score of 110 (min. of 25 on all items); an IELTS, Academic Module, with a score of 8 (min. of 7.5 on all items); ERK level C1. Cambridge C1 Advanced (level A) or C2 Proficiency with a minimum score of 200. If your BA does not certify this, you may have to take an appropriate language test.

European Literatures and Interculturality: 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 language requirements for European Literatures and Interculturality can be found under the entry requirements for that track.

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

Your possibilities depend on your track. You might work as a translator, journalist or writer. You could also find a job in the field of education, research or publishing. Other options are functions at cultural organizations and government institutes.

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 English Literature and Culture theses are:

  • How an Adder Became an Arrow: Battle Kennings in Old English Poetry.
  • The Sin of Crime in the Early Irish and Anglo-Saxon Penitentials and Secular Laws.
  • The Devil is in the Details: The Use of Archery-related Language in Anglo-Saxon Literature.
  • The Mother's Portrayal in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century English Popular Literature.
  • Representations of Queen Elizabeth I in Seventeenth-Century Histories.
  • Self-Reflection in Jane Austen’s Novels.
  • Psychological Elements in Contemporary and Modern First World War Literature.
  • Fantasy Fiction Medievalism: Carnivalesque Laughter between the (Post)Modern and Premodern.
  • The Media of Cyberpunk: An Analysis of Postmodern Science Fiction.

Examples of European Literatures and Interculturality theses 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
  • No de izquierdas ni de derechas: El discurso decolonial en la obra de Calle 13
  • 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

Examples of Writing, Editing and Mediating theses are:

  • Covering Arthurian Novels: Cover Design as an Integral Part of Book Marketing.
  • Tolerance as Cultural Difference: Ian Buruma’s Murder in Amsterdam.
  • Chicanas Write Back: Gender and Homosexuality in Gloria Anzaldúa, Estela Portillo Trambley, and Ana Castillo
  • Constructing and Deconstructing Paradise: Robinsonades and British Imperialism.
  • Victorian and Contemporary Criminality in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Narratives and BBC’s Sherlock.
  • The Fall of the Romish Church: An Edition of a Reformist Pamphlet.
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Study support

Each Master's degree programme has a study advisor whom you can contact if you have questions or need advice about your degree programme and other study-related matters. Everything you discuss will be treated confidentially. If you have a more complex problem, for example study delay, a performance disability or if you are ill for a long time, you should contact a student counsellor.

In addition, you can also follow various courses at the Study Support section of the Student Service Centre (SSC), for example on study stress and holding presentations.