Skip to main content

Comparative Literature

MPhil/PhD

Application options include:

Full-time Part-time
On campus

Course Overview

This research degree is ideal if you wish to engage critically with the study of comparative literature - or other cultural forms, especially in the area of visual studies - across two or more linguistic, regional or national contexts. The research focus of our academic staff is on French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish-speaking cultures in a transnational context, and we welcome research proposals that focus comparatively on or across these areas. We have great expertise in a wide variety of themes both historically and geographically (in Europe, Japan and the Americas).

An MPhil/PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words. At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. You need to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck, who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support you through your research. Find out more about undertaking a research degree at Birkbeck.

Our indicative areas of research are:

  • Canon formation
  • French language literature and culture
  • German language literature and culture
  • Japanese language literature and culture
  • Literary and film history
  • Intermediality, intertextuality and translation across genres and media
  • Portuguese language literature and culture
  • Spanish language literature and culture
  • Transnational cultural theory and criticism in all the above languages
  • Visual culture.

Key information

Find another course:

Highlights

Come and meet us Request a prospectus Contact us
  • Entry Requirements Entry Requirements

    Entry Requirements

    Usually a good first degree in an arts or humanities subject.

    Specific indication of research interests or outline of proposed research prior to interview.

    English language requirements

    If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this programme is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 7.0, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.

    If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses, foundation programmes and language support services to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

    Visit the International section of our website to find out more about our English language entry requirements and relevant requirements by country.

    Visa and funding requirements

    If you are not from the UK and you do not already have residency here, you may need to apply for a visa.

    The visa you apply for varies according to the length of your course:

    • Courses of more than six months' duration: Student visa
    • Courses of less than six months' duration: Standard Visitor visa

    International students who require a Student visa should apply for our full-time courses as these qualify for Student visa sponsorship. If you are living in the UK on a Student visa, you will not be eligible to enrol as a student on Birkbeck's part-time courses (with the exception of some modules).

    For full information, read our visa information for international students page.

    Please also visit the international section of our website to find out more about relevant visa and funding requirements by country.

    Please note students receiving US Federal Aid are only able to apply for in-person, on-campus programmes which will have no elements of online study.

  • Fees Fees

    Fees

    Comparative Literature MPhil/PhD: 7 years part-time or 4 years full-time, on campus, starting in academic year 2024-25 or 2025-26

    Academic year 2024–25, starting October 2024, January 2025, April 2025

    Part-time home students: £2,539 per year
    Full-time home students: £4,786 per year
    Part-time international students: £7,525 per year
    Full-time international students: £14,885 per year

    Academic year 2025–26, starting October 2025, January 2026, April 2026

    To be confirmed

    Students are charged a tuition fee in each year of their course. Tuition fees for students continuing on their course in following years may be subject to annual inflationary increases. For more information, please see the College Fees Policy.

    If you’ve studied at Birkbeck before and successfully completed an award with us, take advantage of our Lifelong Learning Guarantee to gain a discount on the tuition fee of this course.

    Fees and finance

    PhD students resident in England can apply for government loans of over £26,000 to cover the cost of tuition fees, maintenance and other study-related costs.

    Flexible finance: pay your fees in monthly instalments at no extra cost. Enrol early to spread your costs and reduce your monthly payments.

    We offer a range of studentships and funding options to support your research.

    Discover the financial support available to you to help with your studies at Birkbeck.

    International scholarships

    We provide a range of scholarships for eligible international students, including our Global Future Scholarship. Discover if you are eligible for a scholarship.

  • Our research culture Our research culture

    Our research culture

    PhD student experience

    We attract a large number of research students and hold regular PhD colloquia, research seminars and conferences at Birkbeck and other venues in the University of London. We also organise workshops in postgraduate research methods and presentation skills.

    Regular contact is maintained with past postgraduate students, and new and current students are encouraged to discuss their research programme with former students as well as with staff.

    Read more about our vibrant research culture.

    Training and methodology

    You will attend a research skills course in your first year of studies.

    Your supervisor will provide you with advice on your research and support on topics including:

    • planning your thesis
    • the nature of research and the standards expected
    • the primary sources and secondary literature required to support the project
    • research techniques (including arrangements for instruction where necessary)
    • questions of originality, plagiarism and publication of research results.
  • How to apply How to apply

    How to apply

    Follow these steps to apply to an MPhil/PhD research degree at Birkbeck: 

    1. Check that you meet the entry requirements, including English language requirements, as described on this page.

    2. Find a potential supervisor for your MPhil/PhD research. You can look at the Find a Supervisor area on this page for an overview, or search our Experts’ Database or browse our staff pages for more in-depth information. You may also find it helpful to view the research projects of our current students. 

    3. Contact the academic member of staff - or the department they teach in - for an informal discussion about your research interests and to establish if they are willing and able to supervise your research. (Please note: finding a potential supervisor does not guarantee admission to the research degree, as this decision is made using your whole application.) Find out more about the supervisory relationship and how your supervisor will support your research.

    4. Draft a research proposal of 2000 words. This needs to demonstrate your knowledge of the field, the specific research questions you wish to pursue, and how your ideas will lead to the creation of new knowledge and understanding. Find out more about writing a research proposal. 

    5. Apply directly to Birkbeck, using the online application link on this page. All research students are initially registered on an MPhil and then upgrade to a PhD after making sufficient progress.

    Find out more about the application process, writing a research proposal and the timeframe.

    Application deadlines and interviews

    You can apply throughout the year for commencement in October, January or April.

    If you wish to apply for funding, you will need to apply by certain deadlines. Consult the websites of relevant bodies for details.

    Apply for your course

    Apply for your course using the apply now button in the key information section.

  • Finding a supervisor Finding a supervisor

    Finding a supervisor

    A crucial factor when applying for postgraduate study in comparative literature is the correlation between the applicant’s intellectual and research interests and those of one or more potential supervisors.

    Find out more about the research interests of our academic staff:

    • Agnès Calatayud, LèsL, MèsL, MA: cinema and postcolonial studies.
    • Damian Catani, MA, DPhil: nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature; evil in modern French thought and literature; Mallarmé; Baudelaire; visual arts.
    • Peter Damrau, MA, PhD: devotional literature of the seventeenth century; women's writing of the eighteenth century.
    • Nicolette David, MA, MA, PhD: critical theory, especially psychoanalysis and gender; drama and the novel in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; German and Austrian Modernism; Weimar Culture; film studies.
    • Professor Mari Paz Balibrea Enríquez, LicFil, MA, PhD: modern Spanish literature and cultural studies.
    • Irene González-López, BA, BA, MA, PhD: Japanese cinema and modern and contemporary Japanese visual cultures; gender and sexuality studies, feminist film theory; representations of sex work in popular culture and media; Japanese female directors and female authorship; adaptations and remakes; stardom and authorship.
    • Akane Kawakami, MA, MPhil, DPhil: twentieth- and twenty-first-century French literature; orientalism and travel writing; photography and autobiography.
    • Professor Joanne Leal, BA, PhD: twentieth- and twenty-first-century German literature and film, especially literature/film and gender; the recent German novel; the films of Wim Wenders and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
    • Ann Lewis, BA, MSt, PhD: eighteenth-century literature and culture; text-and-image relations (especially illustration).
    • Professor Luciana Martins, BA, MSc, PhD: visuality and modernity in Latin America and the Caribbean; cinematic landscapes; urban encounters and performance; cross-cultural histories of tropical botany in Latin America; travel and image-making; cultural heritage in Latin America.
    • Anna Richards, MPhil, DPhil: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German literature, especially the novel and its medical historical context; women's writing.
    • Michael Tsang, BA, MPhil, PhD: East Asian literatures; East Asian popular cultures; world literature; postcolonial theory; gender studies; critical theory.
    • Nathalie Wourm, LèsL, MèsL, DPhil: new French writing; literature in mixed media; post-structuralist and anti-capitalist thought in contemporary literature.
Visit the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication

Related courses