French and English Literature

French is a major world language, spoken in many parts of Europe, Africa and the Americas. For centuries, alongside English-speaking cultures, the francophone world has had a profound international influence on literature.

This joint honours programme aims to develop your critical, analytic, linguistic and creative skills. As well as language learning, you will engage with a broad range of texts in both English and French, and a variety of approaches to reading.

French

Intensive language training, including a year abroad, gives you the opportunity to develop advanced speaking, writing, reading and translating skills in French.

You will explore French culture, including francophone literature and cinema, political history, social movements and philosophical ideas.

Our courses cover material from the Middle Ages to the 21st century and include specialist options taught by leading experts in key disciplines, including post-colonial studies and gender studies.

English Literature

Based in the first UNESCO World City of Literature, you will study in the oldest department of English Literature in the UK, one of the longest-established in the world.

You will gain the essential skills needed for the critical close reading of poetry, drama and prose and explore the cultural contexts of writing in English from the late Middle Ages to the present.

At honours level, you will select courses on the basis of your own interests in specific topics, periods or literary genres.

Combining literature with a language shows an openness to ideas and perspectives other than your own, an essential attribute in many careers and a global marketplace.

Why Edinburgh

We are unique in Scotland in offering students a full academic year abroad within the four-year honours programme, regardless of whether you spend the year studying or working.

Our language programmes are flexible. In Years 1 and 2, as well as your core subjects, you will choose option courses from a wide range of disciplines. You will then specialise as you progress through your honours years, the first of which you will spend abroad.

When you graduate, you will have the combination of broad cultural education and specialist knowledge valued by employers worldwide.