Are we to regard Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones' Diary, and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series as being part of 'world literature'? Considering their global readership we certainly should, or not

Location:

Bern, Switzerland

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Graduate Certificate

Specialty:

Literature & Writing

Program Overview

Program Description:

Are we to regard Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones' Diary, and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series as being part of 'world literature'? Considering their global readership we certainly should, or not?

What do we mean when we use the omnipresent term 'world literature'? This term is so central to the book reviews in newspapers and culture magazines that we cannot picture them without it.

The Master programme World Literature focuses on the various meanings and contexts in which this evocative term is used, it examines its history and critically analyzes it: What is 'world literature'? Who decides what is meant by it? Which factors are important? Is there any point in continuing to use this contradictory concept?

This programme has been designed for students who are determined to critically examine conventional definitions of 'world literature' and to search for new ways in which to see the term in the context of a globalized and medialized world. Developing newer concepts of this term will allow us to adopt a multifaceted view of the cultural complexity of a globalized world as well as a more intensive inquiry into the questions and problems that result therefrom. These specifically include the complex processes of canon formation, the shifting referentiality of fictional texts, and the contexts of inter-cultural contact.

The Master programme World Literature concentrates on solid training in the fields of literary theory, cultural theory, and media and intermediality theory as well as providing space for methodological questions. The migration of genres and transcultural themes such as birth, death, and myth in regional/global contexts, culture transfer – transculturality, 'world literature' in the field of tension between orality and literality: these are all aspect

Additional Program Information

Accreditation:

The study program is designed for students already holding a Bachelor's degree in a philological discipline (for example English/American, French or German Studies) as well as for students with a degree in the humanities or the social sciences.

Requirements:

- good (if possible excellent) command of both English and German; Ideally, you should also speak at least one other language such as French, Italian, Spanish, Russian and so forth because the more languages you speak, the more you can profit from our highly diverse selection of courses offered by many different literature departments - ability to work independently (the study program comprises a high degree of free choice and independent work)

International Requirements:

- good command of the German language: Depending on your selection of courses, lectures/courses are held in German or English, or one or more other languages. Prospective students applying for admission to a Master program are exempted from the German test. However, even if your course of study is mainly held in an other language than German, this is the main language spoken in Bern and therefore a lot of documents from the administration will always be in German. A good command of German is therefore highly recommended. The Centre for Language Competence of the University of Bern (http://www.zsk.unibe.ch/content/deutsch/index_eng.html) currently runs courses at levels A2 to C1 (from advanced beginners up to advanced level).