Persian and English Literature
Persian and English literature at the University of Edinburgh is an unusual and rewarding pairing that opens perspectives on two of the world's great literary traditions. Persian is one of the oldest continuously written literary languages in the world, with a classical tradition stretching back over a millennium that includes poets such as Rumi, Hafiz, Ferdowsi, and Khayyam, whose works have been read and translated across cultures and centuries and continue to resonate today. Persian is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, and is a language of enormous cultural, historical, and geopolitical importance.
English literature encompasses one of the broadest and richest bodies of writing in any language, from medieval texts through the Renaissance and Romantic periods to the diverse global traditions in English that have flourished in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
At Edinburgh, you will study both traditions seriously over four years of full-time study, with a year abroad that gives you the opportunity to engage with Persian language and culture in a different academic or geographical setting. You will develop reading proficiency in Persian alongside your engagement with its classical and modern literature, and you will read English literature closely and critically across a wide range of periods and genres. The combination encourages you to think comparatively about how different traditions have addressed shared human themes, how translation mediates between cultures, and how the study of a non-European literary tradition can enrich and challenge assumptions formed within a primarily Anglophone education.
Graduates from this programme develop a rare set of skills and knowledge that is valued in contexts where understanding of the Iranian, Afghan, and wider Persian-speaking world is important. Diplomacy, intelligence, journalism, international development, and NGO work in the Middle East and Central Asia are destinations that draw directly on the linguistic expertise. Translation, academic research in Persian literature or comparative literary studies, and roles in cultural organisations and heritage institutions are further paths.
The strong analytical and critical writing skills developed through English literature are transferable across many professions, including law, journalism, publishing, the civil service, and many other fields.