:: Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn

M.A. Program
in Comparative Literature

An Overview

The purposes of the M.A. program in Comparative Literature are to enable students to develop competence in literary theory and research in subjects and problems in literary studies, and to educate and train teachers/scholars equipped with sufficient knowledge of literary studies that will allow them to take positions in schools, colleges and non-academic organizations throughout the country.

The Department of Comparative Literature at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Arts is the only institution in Thailand which offers a Master's degree in Comparative Literature. The strengths of the department, reflected in the courses and topics of our students' theses, are drawn from our location in Bangkok, a capital of richly cultural diversity at the hub of Southeast Asia. We offer courses that explore subjects and problems common to several literatures, including Thai literature and many of students' researches have been comparisons of Thai literary works with those in other languages or regions. Moreover, as a department of a leading university in Southeast Asia, we have intensely been developing knowledge of Southeast Asian literatures. We offer a seminar course in Southeast Asian literature, works by writers of the region have appeared in the reading lists of several courses and many seminars and conferences on different aspects of Southeast Asian literatures have been organized by the department. (see Events) Not only enriched by the corpus of regional literatures and the wisdom of local thinkers, our curriculum has also profited from Western scholarship, which offers interesting possibilities of research in literary studies. Thus, some of the courses are informed by Western literary theory and research methods such as structuralism, psychoanalysis, feminism or Marxism while the readings for those courses might comprise variously works by local, regional and international writers.

Degree Requirements
The M.A. in Comparative Literature requires 36 credits of coursework or coursework with thesis writing. According to their need and career vision, students can choose one of the two plans of study offered by the department.

Plan A is designed for students who aim at developing their competence and expertise in doing research. Students are required to complete at least 36 credits, of which 24 credits are earned from coursework and 12 from a thesis. The credits from coursework consist of 9 credits of required courses and 15 credits of electives.

Following Chulalongkorn Univerisity's policy of governmental and non-governmental staff development in the university's fields of excellence,Plan B is created for students who wish to broaden and fortify their knowledge of literature and literary studies so as to be well-equipped to take positions as teachers/scholars in schools, colleges and non-academic organizations. A total of 36 credits are also required for Plan B students. Nine credits must be earned from required courses, 24 from electives and 3 from the M.A. Project in which students are asked to write an academic essay of publishable length and give an oral presentation of their writing. Students must also pass the M.A. Comprehensive Examination, which they are required to take after completing their coursework.

Course structure

Plan A

Coursework	24 credits
Required courses	9 credits
Elective courses	15 credits
Thesis	12 credits
Total credits required	36 credits

Plan B

Coursework	36 credits
Required courses	9 credits
Elective courses	24 credits
Individual research	3 credits
Total credits required	36 credits

Required courses (for both plans A and B)	9 credits
2210701 Literary Criticism I	3(3-0-9) credits
2210702 Literary Criticism II	3(3-0-9) credits
2210761 Seminar in Methods of Comparative Literature	3(3-0-9) credits

Admission
In addition to meeting the Graduate School and the Faculty of Arts' Graduate Studies Committee admission requirements, applicants to the Master's program in Comparative Literature must have a bachelor's degree in arts, humanities, liberal arts, or related fields of study.

The selection processes, which might vary from year to year, follow the regulations detailed in the Handbook of Chulalongkorn University Graduate School Application.

Academic System
The academic year is divided into two regular semesters: the first and the second semesters. Each regular semester usually has a duration of not less than 15 weeks. Following the second semester, there might also be an additional summer session which lasts 6-8 weeks.

Period of Study
The period of study for a Master's degree shall not be more than 4 academic years, counting from the first semester in which the student is admitted to the program.

Registration
Regular students must register for not less than 9 credits but not more than 15 credits for a regular semester, and not more than 6 credits for a summer session.

Academic Performance Evaluation
Final grades for courses are recorded as follows: A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, and F (failure). Theses are evaluated at 4 levels: Very Good, Good, Pass and Failure.

Course Descriptions

	2210603 Western Influences on Thai Literature 3(3-0-9) WEST INFL TH LIT Ways in which Thai authors make use of western social, cultural, and literary concepts.
	2210621 The Influence of Religion on Literature 3(3-0-9) INFLU RELI LIT Acceptance, modification, and rejection of religious ideas; important works with religious themes of the East and the West.
	2210622 Mythology and Literature 3(3-0-9) MYTH LIT Greek and Indian mythologies as literary themes; various treatments of the myth in English, Italian, French and German literature; mythological heritage in Thai literature.
	2210623 World Literary Masterpieces 3(3-0-9) WORLD LIT MAST Story, theme, literary elements and values of masterpieces of the East and the West.
	2210631 Literature of Escape 3(3-0-9) LIT ESCAPE German , English and French romantic tales in prose and verse forms; the Gothic novel and its influence on the Continent; story of adventure and detective story.
	2210632 Literature of Social Criticism 3-(3-0-9) LIT SOC CRIT Themes of condition, justice, and improvement of society; selected authors of social criticism and their works.
	2210633 Children Literature 3(3-0-9) CHILDREN LIT History of children literature of the East and the West including Thai; important characteristics of children literature; analysis of interesting foreign and Thai children literature.
	2210641 Development of Western Dramatic Literature to 1850 3(3-0-9) DEV WEST DRAMA Greek tragedy in English translation; theme, plot, characterization and convention of the plays of Shakespeare's contemporaries; restrictions of the three unities of French and Italian tragedy; Commedia dell' Arte and its influence; Romantic drama.
	2210644 Evolution Within Genre 3(3-0-9) EVOLUTION GENRE Changes in style, content, and purpose of literary genres; comparative study of the evolution of literary genre of the East and the West.
	2210651 Relations of Literature to Other Art Forms 3(3-0-9) REL LIT ART FORMS Applications of techniques of other arts in European literature; experimentations with principles of other arts in Eastern and Western literature.
	2210652 Relations of Literature to Other Areas of Study 3(3-0-9) REL LIT ARE STUD Influences of other disciplines of study on literary creation; applications of other disciplines to literary analysis and criticism.
	2210660 Sociology of Literature 3 (3-0-9) SOCIO LIT Relationship between society and the development of literature in the East and the West; influences of society on writers, readers and literary trends.
	2210701 Literary Criticism I 3(3-0-9) LIT CRIT I Literary Criticism from Greek to 18 th century; approaches and major literary criticism texts in each period.
	2210702 Literary Criticism II 3(3-0-9) LIT CRIT II Modern literary criticism; major texts from 19th century to the present time.
	2210711 Seminar in Romanticism 3(3-0-9) SEM ROMANTICISM Romanticism in France; the English Romanticists and their influences on writers in the United States of America; Romanticism in Italy.
	2210713 Seminar in Modern Poetry 3(3-0-9) SEM MOD POETRY Trends in English and American poetry after World War II; modern poetry in France and Germany; corresponding trends in modern Thai poetry.

	2210714 Seminar in Modern Novel 3(3-0-9) SEM MOD NOVEL Development of the concepts and techniques of the novel both in the East and the West.
	2210715 Seminar in Modern Drama 3(3-0-9) SEM MOD DRAMA Major trends of modern drama in Europe and America; selected masterpieces; influences of Western drama on Thai drama.
	2210716 Seminar in Modern Short Story 3(3-0-9) SEM SHORT STORY Concepts and forms of Eastern and Western short story from the beginning to the present with emphasis on critical analysis of selected works.
	2210717 Seminar in Women Literature 3(3-0-9) SEM WOMEN LIT Women's liberation movement and its influence on women's literature in Western culture; feminism and its influence on women's literature in Eastern culture; selected women's literature and their authors.
	2210720 Seminar in Theory of Literature 3(3-0-9) SEM THE LIT Important literary theories; analysis of interesting literary theories and application to literary criticism.
	2210761 Seminar in Methods of Comparative Literature 3(3-0-9) SEM METH COM LIT History of comparative literature as a discipline; various methods currently used in the field of comparative literature.
	2210762 Seminar in Southeast Asian Literature 3(3-0-9) SEMSEA LIT Seminar in literature of various countries in Southeast Asia with emphasis on ideas, contents, forms, and influences; a detailed study of selected texts.
	2210763 Seminar in Interesting Author and His/Her Works 3(3-0-9) SEM INT AUT WORK Analysis and criticism of selected author and his/her works.

	2210771 Individual Reading 3(3-0-9) INDIV READ Supervised individual study in depth of assigned works in literature or literary criticism in order to provide a specific background for the student's thesis .
	2210781 Individual Research 3(0-0-12) INDIV RES Supervised individual analysis, classification, and evaluation of literary texts; presentation of a publishable article.
	2210811 Thesis 12 credits