French and English Literature

French and English literature is a combination that invites you to read across two of the world's richest literary traditions simultaneously, developing the critical and analytical skills that literary study requires in the context of two distinct languages and cultural worlds. English literature encompasses a canon that spans Chaucer and Shakespeare through to contemporary fiction and poetry, shaped by the particular history of the British Isles and its global connections. French literature is equally vast, stretching from the medieval period through the great novelists of the nineteenth century, the experimental writers of the twentieth, and the rich literary cultures of Francophone Africa, the Caribbean, and Quebec alongside the literature of France itself.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year degree develops your abilities in both French and the critical study of literature written in both languages. In the French strand, you will develop your linguistic competence alongside your literary and cultural knowledge, reading primary texts in the original language and studying the historical and intellectual contexts in which they were produced. In the English literature strand, you will read widely across periods, genres, and critical approaches, developing the ability to interpret and analyse texts with rigour and to write about them with precision.

Edinburgh's exceptional French department and its strong English literature provision make this a particularly well-resourced degree, and the four-year structure allows you to develop real depth in both.

Graduates with this combination are well placed for careers in publishing, journalism, translation, and cultural organisations with interests in both Anglophone and Francophone contexts. Teaching English or French literature at secondary or university level is a common pathway, as is academic research through postgraduate study in English, French, or comparative literature. Roles in the diplomatic service and in European and international bodies that use French as a working language draw graduates whose linguistic competence is complemented by literary and cultural depth.

The analytical and writing skills developed across this degree also transfer widely into law, communications, and the public sector.