English and Spanish

English and Spanish is a combination of two of the world's most widely read literary traditions, one rooted in the British Isles and spread across the English-speaking world, the other spanning the Iberian peninsula and a vast and extraordinarily varied Latin American continent. Studying them together develops not only deep literary and cultural knowledge in two languages but the bilingual analytical attention that allows you to read texts in their original form, to understand the specificities of each language's resources, and to make comparative connections across traditions that have sometimes influenced one another and sometimes developed in fascinating parallel.

At the University of Oxford this four-year full-time degree develops both strands to a very high level. The English component offers a comprehensive span of literature in the English language, from Old English poetry through to contemporary writing from across the English-speaking world, developing the skills of close reading, literary criticism, and historical contextualisation that are central to the study of literature at Oxford. The Spanish strand provides rigorous linguistic training alongside engagement with the literatures, histories, and cultures of Spain and Latin America, developing both practical proficiency and critical understanding of one of the most significant literary traditions in world literature.

The combination of breadth, depth, and linguistic competence that the degree demands is considerable, and the intellectual formation it provides is distinctive.

Graduates of English and Spanish from Oxford are well positioned for careers in publishing, journalism, broadcasting, translation and interpreting, the diplomatic and civil services, international organisations, literary agencies, and the cultural sector. The combination of bilingual literacy and the analytical and communication skills developed by literary study is valued across virtually any professional field. Many Oxford graduates continue to doctoral research in English literature, Hispanic studies, comparative literature, or translation studies, with strong prospects for academic positions and postgraduate fellowships.