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MA The Contemporary Novel: Practice as Research

  • DeadlineStudy Details:

    MA 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time

Course Description

This is an innovative and exciting programme in which you focus on writing a full-length, literary novel of between 90,000 and 150,000 words.

While the aims and objectives remain the same as on any other PhD programme in the humanities, for example, you are expected to contribute new knowledge of some sort, and to explore original, contemporary research questions, you are expected to achieve almost all of this in the novel itself. There is no long critical piece attached to this PhD programme. Instead, you produce a 3-5,000-word essay that works like a preface to your project, linking your concerns with others’, demonstrating your awareness of theme and locating your work within/without one or more traditions etc. You also need to produce a full bibliography.

All UK universities and relevant funding councils and bodies (including REF panels) now support the idea that literary novels are research outputs in their own right and in themselves make significant contributions to knowledge. The idea that a novel might ‘know’ something about war that a piece of historical research could not know (in the case of Art Spiegelman’s MAUS, for example), or that philosophy can be undertaken in fiction (as in the work of Borges) is one that we have been embracing at Kent for several years now.

Entry Requirements

A first or upper-second class honours degree in a relevant subject (or equivalent) and, normally, a taught MA qualification of an excellent standard (Distinction or high Merit).

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Fees

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Programme Funding

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Student Destinations

Many career paths can benefit from the writing and analytical skills that you develop as a postgraduate student in the School of English. Our students have gone on to work in academia, journalism, broadcasting and media, publishing, writing and teaching; as well as more general areas such as banking, marketing analysis and project management.

Module Details

For module information please see here

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