Literatures in English
The programme in a nutshell
Semester 1 (September-January)
Literature Visualized (6 ECTS)
Literature Visualized is the core course and will give students a thorough theoretical background to the intricate relations between literature and visual media. Pictures are supposed to tell a thousand words, but where does this cliché come from and how truthful is it? This course investigates the different ways in which literature and visual media convey meaning.
Visual Art and the American Poet (6 ECTS)
Why are American poets increasingly fascinated by visual art? Ekphrastic poetry – poetry inspired by visual art – has become a significant subgenre in which poets may reveal the essence of their poetics as well as the limitations of their chosen art form. Special attention will be paid to the relationship between such poetry and gender. Do men write with a “male gaze”? Do women write a different kind of ekphrastic poem from men?
Fiction and Film (6 ECTS)*
What are the key similarities and differences between fiction and film? By comparing and contrasting three types of fiction, for instance classic novel, autobiography, and science fiction with each other and with films that were based on them, we will try to determine the distinguishing characteristics of these two media.
Renaissance literature and visual culture
This course looks at Renaissance literature from the perspective of visual studies and the history of the senses. Several developments in the period challenged ideas about the workings of sight and the effects of visual images, such as the Reformation and advances in science and philosophy. In this course, you will analyse Renaissance literature from the perspective of these changing ideas about images, vision, and sight, focusing on the relations and exchanges between literature and visual culture in genres such as poetry and drama, and the material culture of the printed book.
Literature and Society (6 ECTS)
This course is an obligatory lecture course for all MA-literature students at the VU University Amsterdam. From different vantage points, it analyzes how literature is both a part of society intersects with all aspects of daily life and impacts society at large.
Semester 2 (February-June)
The Gothic Gaze*
Zooming in on the relations between Gothic literature and other media, such as film and music, this course offers students an opportunity to develop their understanding of what Gothic is. The literature studied ranges from the early gothic play The Monk by Matthew Lewis, via Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey to Angela Carter’s Bloody Chamber and George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
Screenwriting (6 ECTS)
How do you write film scripts and what makes this genre different from plays or novels? In this course you do not only study classic and off-the-wall film scripts, but will also sample what it is to write one yourself.
MA-Thesis (18 ECTS)
Closely supervised by one of our staff members, students write their own large independent scientific thesis (roughly 20,000 words). The topics are decided by the students themselves, but in consultation with their supervisors.
