Film and Literature

Film and literature are the two narrative arts that have most profoundly shaped how modern people understand themselves and the world they inhabit. Studying them together invites you to examine how stories work, how images and words each produce meaning, and what happens at the boundaries and intersections of the two forms. Adaptation is one of the most productive of these intersections: the process of moving a novel, play, or story into film involves a series of choices that reveal what each medium can and cannot do, and analysing those choices illuminates both the source text and the film in new ways.

At Warwick this three-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study in an international context and to develop a comparative perspective on literary and film cultures beyond the UK. You will study literature from a wide range of periods and traditions alongside film and television, examining the broad cultural shift from literary to audio-visual dominance that has characterised the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and the complex relationships between these forms that continue to develop. The programme examines how words and images reflect and influence humanity and society, developing your ability to read closely, to think critically about representation and meaning, and to construct well-reasoned arguments about texts and films across different historical and cultural contexts.

Graduates of film and literature programmes find careers in publishing, journalism, film criticism, screenwriting, arts administration, education, broadcasting, advertising, and the cultural sector more broadly. The critical reading, analytical writing, and close attention to how meaning is made that the degree develops are transferable into law, consultancy, policy, and the civil service, as well as into creative professional roles. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in English literature, film studies, creative writing, or screen production, or develop research careers that address the intersections of literary and screen culture.