MA Arabic and Comparative Literature and Italian
About this course
Arabic, comparative literature and Italian form a combination that opens a remarkable range of intellectual possibilities. Arabic is the vehicle of one of the world's great literary and intellectual traditions, from the classical poetry of pre-Islamic Arabia and the prose of the Abbasid caliphate to the modern novel and contemporary poetry across the Arabic-speaking world. Italian literature is similarly rich, encompassing Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Leopardi as well as the vibrant twentieth-century and contemporary traditions. Comparative literature as a discipline asks what we can learn about storytelling, genre, translation and the workings of literary culture by reading across languages and traditions. Together these three strands produce a degree of unusual depth and reach at the University of St Andrews. This four-year full-time MA programme develops your proficiency in Arabic and Italian alongside your skills in comparative literary analysis. You will engage with texts from across periods, genres and cultures, developing the interpretive and analytical capacities that are central to serious literary study. The comparative framework encourages you to think about what literatures share and how they differ, and to bring those insights to bear on specific texts in their original languages. A year abroad is built into the programme, giving you extended immersion in one or both language communities and deepening your fluency and cultural understanding. Graduates with expertise in Arabic, Italian and comparative literature are well placed for careers in areas where linguistic skill and cultural intelligence are at a premium. Diplomacy, international relations, translation, journalism, publishing, teaching and academic research are all natural directions. The analytical and interpretive skills the programme develops also transfer well into law, the civil service and the cultural sector. Postgraduate study in comparative literature, Arabic studies, Italian studies or translation opens further specialist routes.
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