Comparative Literature and Italian and Spanish

Comparative literature with Italian and Spanish is an intellectually ambitious combination that opens the practice of reading literature without national or linguistic borders while developing genuine language proficiency in two of the great Romance traditions. Comparative literature asks what connects texts from different cultures and periods, exploring how narrative forms, poetic traditions and ideas travel across linguistic boundaries. Italian brings access to Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and the literary tradition of the Renaissance, as well as to contemporary Italian writing.

Spanish opens the equally rich traditions of Cervantes, Lorca and the extraordinary flowering of Latin American literature from Borges to Garcia Marquez and beyond.

At the University of St Andrews you will read comparative literature across periods, genres and cultures in English translation, while developing real proficiency in both Italian and Spanish through language study and engagement with cultural, historical and literary contexts specific to each tradition. The ability to read without borders, situating texts from Italy, Spain and Latin America alongside those from elsewhere in the world, gives the degree a distinctive breadth and critical ambition. The programme runs over four years full time and includes a year abroad, spent in contexts where your languages are spoken and where your literary and cultural engagement can move from the page to direct experience.

Graduates of this combination move into careers in publishing, literary translation, arts administration, journalism, education, broadcasting and the cultural sector, as well as international business, diplomacy and any role requiring fluency in Italian or Spanish. Postgraduate study in comparative literature, Romance languages, translation or literary studies is a natural further route for those wishing to develop specialist academic or professional expertise.