MA German and Portuguese
About this course
German and Portuguese are languages of two of the world's most important cultural and economic traditions. German is the most widely spoken language in Europe, the language of Goethe, Kafka and Mann and a major vehicle of scientific, philosophical and intellectual discourse. Portuguese is the language of Brazil and Portugal, spoken across four continents and carrying within it literary traditions of extraordinary richness from Camoes and Pessoa to contemporary Brazilian and Lusophone African writing. Studying both at the University of Edinburgh means engaging with two very different but equally significant linguistic and cultural worlds at the highest academic level. This four-year full-time programme develops your German and Portuguese to advanced levels through close reading of literary and cultural texts, sustained language practice and engagement with the histories, societies and contemporary realities of the countries in which these languages are spoken. You will develop analytical and critical skills through close work with complex texts and ideas, and you will build the cultural understanding that makes language competence genuinely useful in professional and personal contexts. Edinburgh's strong traditions in both German and Iberian and Latin American studies provide an exceptional academic environment for this combination. Graduates with high-level German and Portuguese open a wide range of career possibilities. The combination of a major European language and the primary language of Latin America's largest economy is genuinely distinctive in the UK graduate market. Translation and interpreting, international business, diplomacy, journalism, publishing, academia, cultural organisations and the civil service all offer pathways. Portuguese-speaking Brazil and German-speaking markets in Europe are significant in global trade and finance, and graduates with both languages are well placed in internationally oriented careers. Postgraduate study in German, Lusophone or Iberian studies, translation, comparative literature or European studies is also a natural next step.
Syllabus & Modules
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