- Schools & departments
Comparative Literature PhD
Awards: PhD
Study modes: Full-time, Part-time
Funding opportunities
Programme website: Comparative Literature
Introduction to Postgraduate Study
Join us online on 18 December at our live webinar session for an overview of postgraduate study and life at Edinburgh.
Find out more and register
Research profile
Doctorate-level study is an opportunity to make an original, positive contribution to research in Comparative Literature.
As the first UNESCO World City of Literature, and a major cultural hub, Edinburgh is the ideal place to study literary works of different linguistic and cultural systems, and to explore the relationship between literature and the other arts.
In the course of your research, you will look comparatively at one or more literary themes, genres or historical periods.
Research excellence
Our programme draws on the expertise of staff from across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC).
Literature has been taught here for over 250 years and we offer one of the widest variety of languages of any UK university, particularly within European Languages and Cultures which comprises:
- French and Francophone Studies
- Russian Studies
- Scandinavian Studies (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish)
- Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (Hispanic Studies)
In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), our research in these subjects was submitted in Modern Languages and Linguistics (Panel D - Arts and Humanities; Unit of Assessment 26).
The results reaffirm Edinburgh’s position as one of the UK’s leading research universities - third in the UK.
As published in Times Higher Education's REF power ratings, this result is based on the quality and breadth of our research in the unit of assessment.
Join our community and undertake a specialised research project under the guidance of knowledgeable and well-published supervisors. As well as European literature, we have particular strengths in literature from East Asia, South America, Lusophone Africa, and the Middle East, and literature written in English from around the world.
Across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures and the wider University, we are able to support PhD theses crossing boundaries between languages and/or disciplines, including:
- Film Studies
- Theatre Studies
Be inspired by the range of PhD research in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
Over the course of your PhD, you will be expected to complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of your supervisors leading to a dissertation of usually between 80,000 and 100,000 words.
You will be awarded your doctorate if your thesis is judged to be of an appropriate standard, and your research makes a definite contribution to knowledge.
Read our pre-application guidance on writing a PhD research proposal
Go beyond the books
Beyond the Books is a podcast from the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at research and the people who make it happen.
Listen to a mix of PhD, early career and established researchers talk about their journey to and through academia and about their current and recent research.
Browse Beyond the Books episodes and hear our research community talk about their work
Programme structure
Find out more about compulsory and optional courses.
We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.
Training and support
This programme includes optional training on research skills, methods and problems.
Between the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC), the Careers Service and the Institute for Academic Development (IAD), you will find a further range of programmes and resources to help you develop your postgraduate skills.
You will also have access to the University’s fantastic libraries, collections and worldwide strategic partnerships.
As part of our research community, you will be immersed in a world of knowledge exchange, with lots of opportunities to share ideas, learning and creative work.
Activities range from talks by visiting speakers and work-in-progress seminars, to reading groups, conferences, workshops, performances, online journals and forums, many of which are led by PhD candidates.
Our graduates tell us that they value LLC’s friendliness, the connections they make here and the in-depth guidance they receive from our staff, who are published experts in their field.
The Main University Library holds academic books, journals and databases.
Its Centre for Research Collections brings together:
- more than 400,000 rare books
- six kilometres of archives and manuscripts
- thousands of works of art, historical musical instruments and other objects
Many of our Special Collections are digitised and available online from our excellent Resource Centre, Computing Labs, and dedicated PhD study space in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC).
Look inside the PhD study space in LLC
In the city
As a PhD candidate at Edinburgh, you will be based in a world-leading festival city with fantastic libraries, cinemas, theatres, galleries, museums, and other collections.
Many of the city’s resources are located close to the University's Central Area, making them very easy to access when you are on campus. For example, both the National Museum and National Library of Scotland are less than one km from our School. The latter is particularly strong in French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish material.
We have excellent links with Edinburgh’s European institutions, including the Institut français, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Edimburgo and the Consulado General de España en Edimburgo, as well as the organisers of the International, Fringe, Book and Film Festivals.
Your supervisors
You will be supervised by at least two members of our academic staff. Colleagues who can supervise PhD research in Comparative Literature include:
- Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce
- Dr Susan Bainbrigge
- Dr Claire Boyle
- Professor Peter Davies
- Dr Jessica Gordon-Burroughs
- Dr Emmanuelle Lacrore-Martin
- Dr Iona Macintyre
- Dr Fiona Mackintosh
- Professor Federica Pedriali
- Professor Marion Schmid
- Dr Alexandra Smith
- Dr Katharine Swarbrick
- Dr Sarah Tribout-Joseph
Please do take some time to read over their profiles to ensure that your project is something we can effectively supervise based on our research interests and expertise.
Entry requirements
These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.
A UK masters degree, or its international equivalent, in a related subject.
If you intend to undertake aspects of the programme in any languages other than English, you should be competent in those languages.
We may also consider your application if you have equivalent qualifications or experience; please check with the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) before you apply.
International qualifications
Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:
- Entry requirements by country
- English language requirements
Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.
English language tests
We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:
- IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
- TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
- C1 Advanced ( CAE ) / C2 Proficiency ( CPE ): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
- Trinity ISE : ISE III with passes in all four components.
- PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 65 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
- Oxford ELLT : 8 overall with at least 7 in each component.
Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS , TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE , in which case it must be no more than two years old.
Degrees taught and assessed in English
We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:
- UKVI list of majority English speaking countries
We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).
- Approved universities in non-MESC
If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.
Find out more about our language requirements:
Fees and costs
Scholarships and funding.
Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.
Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:
borrowing money
taking out a loan
family support
personal savings
income from work
employer sponsorship
- scholarships
Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study
Featured funding
There are a number of scholarship schemes available to eligible candidates on this PhD programme, including awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Please be advised that many scholarships have more than one application stage, and early deadlines.
- Find out more about scholarships in literatures, languages and cultures
Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:
- Search for funding
Further information
- Phone: +44 (0)131 650 4086
- Contact: [email protected]
- School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures
- 50 George Square
- Central Campus
- Programme: Comparative Literature
- School: Literatures, Languages & Cultures
- College: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Select your programme and preferred start date to begin your application.
PhD Comparative Literature - 3 Years (Full-time)
Phd comparative literature - 6 years (part-time), application deadlines.
If you are also applying for funding or will require a visa then we strongly recommend you apply as early as possible.
- How to apply
You must submit two references with your application.
- Pre-application guidance
Before you formally apply for this PhD, you should look at the pre-application information and guidance on the programme website.
This will help you decide if this programme is right for you, and help us gain a clearer picture of what you hope to achieve.
The guidance will also give you practical advice for writing your research proposal – one of the most important parts of your application.
Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:
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Comparative Literature, PhD
The Ph.D. Program in Comparative Literature covers the study of narrative, poetry, representation and cultural history. The Program enables students to engage rigorously with critical theory. We draw our faculty from many disciplines: the languages and literary histories of Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia: history, art history, religion; anthropology; folklore; political science; Africana studies; Jewish studies; Gender and Sexuality studies; sociology; communications.
We provide a structured and challenging program in which graduate students can combine the careful study of a particular literary tradition with interests in other languages and disciplinary approaches. The broad interests that our students bring to their projects include the history of philosophy, film and media studies, technology and the history of science, and area studies. Students work in varied historical periods, from antiquity and the Middle Ages to the postmodern, and in diverse language fields. Proficiency in two languages is required for graduation (English excluded).
Comparative Literature at Penn has a dynamic intellectual community. Our signature event is our public colloquium series, Theorizing, which is organized primarily by the graduate students. Our students and faculty are active participants in the many interdisciplinary lecture and seminar series at Penn, including the Medieval-Renaissance Seminar, the History of Material Texts Seminar, the Wolf Humanities Center, the Latitudes Seminar, and several student reading groups.
For more information: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/Complit/graduate.htm
View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .
Sample Plan of Study
The total course units required for graduation is 14.
The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2024 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.
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King's College London
Comparative literature research mphil/phd.
Key information
Joint PhDs available: Exciting opportunities to gain a joint PhD with Hong Kong University (HKU), the National University of Singapore (NUS)
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers research strengths and opportunities for PhD supervision in Comparative Literature across all periods of modern, medieval and classical literature in major western European languages and in the modern languages of India, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Special research focuses include: African literature, the literature of the Middle East, Romanticism and revolution, gender studies and classical reception studies.
The Department has a vibrant and energetic research culture, in which postgraduate research students are fully involved. In the recent Research Excellence Framework assessment of our research (REF 2021) our research environment was rated 100% ‘world-leading’ (4*), and research impact was rated 87.5% ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ (3*).
Current number of academic staff (permanent) : 11 (all research active).
Current Number of students: 14
Recent staff publications
- Not my time to die (translation of the novel by Yolanda Mukagusana)
- Epic Performances from the Middle Ages into the Twenty-First Century
- Rethinking Metonymy: Literary Theory and Poetic Practice from Pindar to Jakobson
- Complex Inferiorities: The Poetics of the Weaker Voice in Latin Literature
- Colonialism and Knowledge in Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India
- Nation and Region in Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India
- Realism and space in the novel, 1795-1869: Imagined Geographies
- The Friulian Language: Identity, Migration, Culture
- What Postcolonial Theory Doesn't Say
- Debating Orientalism
- Melancholia: The Western Malady
- Rhetorics of Belonging: Nation, Narration and Israel/Palestine
Current research projects
- Cultural responses to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda
- Radical texts in translation
- Classical reception in Caribbean and African diaspora literature
- Interactions between ancient and modern literature and thought
- National multilingualism in South Asia and the Horn of Africa
- Oral traditions in world literature
- Conceptualisations of the ‘global’
- Linguistic ideas, language and translation in colonial and postcolonial South Asia
- Domesticity in surrealism and the European avant-garde
- French writing on Iran in the long nineteenth century
- Literatures of the Middle East and North Africa (Arabic, English, French)
- Cultural activism and advocacy
- Goethe’s thought
Partner organisations : ongoing co-operation in research and student exchange takes place between the programme and the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Joint PhDs available : Exciting opportunities to gain a joint PhD with the University of Hong Kong or National University of Singapore.
- How to apply
- Fees or Funding
UK Tuition Fees 2024/25
Full time tuition fees: £6,168 per year (MPhil/PhD, Comparative Literature)
Full time tuition fees: £6,168 per year (MPhill/PhD Comparative Literature Joint PhD Option with University of Hong Kong or National University of Singapore)
Part time tuition fees: £3,084 per year
International Tuition Fees 2024/25
Full time tuition fees: £24,786 per year (MPhil/PhD, Comparative Literature)
Full time tuition fees: £24,786 per year (MPhill/PhD Comparative Literature Joint PhD Option with University of Hong Kong or National University of Singapore)
Part time tuition fees: £12,393 per year
UK Tuition Fees 2025/26
Full time tuition fees: £6,600 per year (MPhil/PhD, Comparative Literature)
Full time tuition fees: £6,600 per year (MPhill/PhD Comparative Literature Joint PhD Option with University of Hong Kong or National University of Singapore)
Part time tuition fees: £3,300 per year
International Tuition Fees 2025/26
Full time tuition fees: £27,100 per year (MPhil/PhD, Comparative Literature)
Full time tuition fees: £27,100 per year (MPhill/PhD Comparative Literature Joint PhD Option with University of Hong Kong or National University of Singapore)
Part time tuition fees: £13,550 per year
These tuition fees may be subject to additional increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King’s terms and conditions.
- Study environment
Base campus
Strand Campus
Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the Strand Campus houses King's College London's arts and sciences faculties.
Postgraduate research environment
As a postgraduate research student in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures you will join a vibrant research culture which features sustained reflection and dialogue on our subject areas. You will work closely with designated primary and secondary supervisors, and benefit from regular feedback from other staff members. You will see your primary supervisor regularly and are strongly encouraged to attend research seminars and research-related events in the department and beyond. There are multiple opportunities to gain experience in the presentation and dissemination of your research and to exchange ideas with fellow students and members of staff.
Postgraduate research students in Comparative Literature have the opportunity to present their work at regular Departmental research seminars and to participate in the Comparative Literature Graduate Reading Group and the annual Comparative Literature Graduate Conference. You also attend other research seminars as appropriate including at the Global Institutes and the research centres of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The various Institutes of the University of London School of Advanced Study run a wealth of seminars. In addition, King's Comparative Literature plays a pivotal role in the London Intercollegiate Comparative Studies network, which hosts its own seminars.
We offer a dedicated study space for our postgraduate research students in the Virginia Woolf building.
Postgraduate training
Training for postgraduate research students is offered at various levels throughout PhD registration, including, at King’s, the courses and sessions offered by the Department, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Centre for Doctoral Studies and the King’s Language Centre. Further afield training is offered by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership and the Institute of Modern Languages Research of the University of London. Research training will include a range of different kinds, including research ethics and integrity, bibliographic and referencing skills, the opportunity to learn or improve language skills, career support, job applications, networking, working with community partners, and much more.
- Entry requirements
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