Master in Comparative Literature

Tuition fees are 2,220 USD per year.

Offered in English at Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" in Napoli, Italy, this master's programme centers on Comparative Literature, a discipline devoted to the study of literary works across different languages, cultures, and national traditions. Rather than confining study to a single national canon, comparative literature examines how texts, genres, and literary movements interact, translate, and influence one another across borders. Students typically engage with literary theory, translation studies, and close reading of texts from multiple linguistic traditions, alongside topics such as world literature, cultural studies, and the history of ideas. Coursework often addresses how literature intersects with philosophy, history, and other art forms, and how meaning shifts when texts move between languages and cultural contexts. Emphasis is placed on developing analytical and critical writing skills through the comparison of literary works, periods, and movements. Graduates pursue varied paths, including further academic research, teaching, publishing, translation, cultural journalism, and work in cultural institutions, archives, and international organizations. The interdisciplinary nature of the field also prepares students for roles requiring strong analytical reading, cross-cultural communication, and writing skills, valued in media, communications, and educational settings. Napoli, home to a long tradition of humanities scholarship, provides a setting for study that draws on Italy's own literary heritage as a point of comparison with other traditions. This two-year master's degree, delivered in English, is designed to give international students the conceptual tools of literary theory alongside a comparative, cross-cultural approach to reading and interpreting texts from around the world.