We bring together state-of-the-art research in the interdisciplinary fields of comparative and world literature, and modern languages.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework assessment (REF2021), 87.5 per cent of the research in our unit was rated ‘world leading’ (4*) or ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) and 100 per cent of our research environment was classed as ‘world leading’ — securing equal top ranking in the UK.
Our research, which feeds into our Undergraduate and Master’s teaching in the broad fields of French, German, Hispanic and Portuguese studies and Comparative Literature, interrogates the links between languages, cultures and identities.
We examine languages and literatures as transnational phenomena in a global context, seeking to further the understanding of their cultural and societal impact. The cultures and literatures of our languages’ global contact zones come into focus and we engage with and work on areas beyond Europe, including the wider Iberian world, Lusophone Africa and Brazil, the transnational cultures of German, and of the Francophone world in Africa and the Americas.
Research in Comparative Literature also expands to Middle Eastern, African and South Asian literatures and engages with a wide range of languages, geographies, historical periods, and media.