Italian and English Literature

Italian and English literature together form a combination that spans two of the richest literary traditions in the European heritage. Italian literature encompasses Dante's Divine Comedy, Petrarch's sonnets, Boccaccio's Decameron, the novellas of the Renaissance, the poetry of Leopardi and the experimental modernism of Calvino, all produced in a language that has also been the vehicle of opera, philosophy and some of the most significant intellectual debates of the European tradition. English literature, from the medieval period through Shakespeare and the Romantics to the twentieth-century novel and beyond, provides the other half of a dialogue across centuries and languages that illuminates each tradition by comparison with the other.

At the University of Edinburgh this four-year programme develops your Italian to an advanced level alongside deep engagement with English literary study. You will read Italian literary texts in the original, developing both your linguistic proficiency and your capacity for close critical reading in a second language, while also working intensively with the texts, genres and critical debates of English literature. The programme benefits from Edinburgh's exceptional resources in both areas and from a scholarly culture that takes comparative literature seriously.

The four-year structure gives you the time to develop genuine competence in both languages and real depth in both literary traditions.

Graduates go on to work in publishing, translation and interpreting, journalism, education, cultural organisations, broadcasting, the civil service, international business and academic research. The combination of Italian language competence and English literary training is particularly valued in roles connecting Italian and British cultural and commercial life. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in Italian, comparative literature, translation, literary theory or creative writing.

The degree is a thorough literary education in two great traditions, and the skills it develops are wide-ranging and durable.