English Literature

English literature is the study of written texts as artistic and cultural objects, asking not just what writers say but how they say it, who was reading and why, and what their work reveals about the societies that produced it. It is a discipline that demands close reading, historical awareness, critical thinking and the ability to construct and communicate well-evidenced arguments about complex material. Literature covers an enormous range of forms, periods and traditions, and studying it develops a kind of intellectual flexibility that transfers well to many fields.

At the University of Brighton, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year and a work placement. It takes a multidisciplinary and decolonised approach, connecting literary study to philosophy, art history and media, and covering both canonical texts and contemporary writing from a range of traditions. You will engage with classic topics and authors alongside contemporary issues including Black British literature, identity and diversity.

The programme places literature in relation to the wider cultural and political contexts that shape it, making it feel genuinely relevant to the world as it is rather than just the world as it was.

You will develop your analytical and interpretive skills through close reading, essay writing, seminar discussion and independent research. The sandwich placement gives you structured professional experience, which might be in publishing, education, journalism, media or the arts sector, helping you build the professional awareness to accompany your academic expertise.

Graduates from English literature programmes work in publishing, journalism, media, education, arts administration, communications, marketing, public relations, law and the civil service, among many other fields. The ability to read carefully, write clearly and think critically is valued across sectors. Some go on to postgraduate study in literature, creative writing, journalism, education or cultural studies.