The English Literary Studies postgraduate programme covers the rise of English Studies as a discipline, both in South Africa and worldwide. The course modules are designed to introduce higher-level students to the various historical movements and critical discourses that have shaped the subject of English, as we know it today, and to stimulate their research interests. In addition to considering different literary forms of the past in their contexts, the modules also focus on theoretical issues around the production of literary and non-literary cultural texts. These include the politics of gender in Western European and African writing, and the responses to colonisation in the so-called new ‘englishes’ of the postcolonial world. The importance is recognised, too, of new areas of critical concern for English studies that have emerged in recent years, such as orality, the expression of identity in terms of mass and popular culture.

Every year, three of the following Honours coursework modules will be on offer, along with one research module, depending on staff availability and students’ interests:

ENGL710: Special Topics: Literary and Cultural Studies

ENGL716: Writing Across World

ENGL706: South African Literature and Landscape

In addition, students will register for a research module in which they will write their Honours dissertation under the supervision of a staff member in English Literary Studies.

ENGL7RP: Research Paper: English Literary Studies

Total credits: 128