Suggested reading and viewing for Modern Languages Cultural Studies modules
2021-22 Entrants
All of our degree programmes have a dedicated webpage, on which you will be able to see the names of all of the modules that you will take during your first year of study
Our module descriptions will give you a sense of the kinds of topics or concerns that you can look out for as you read/watch the suggested texts that we have listed below for you to begin exploring between now and the start of classes in early October. We have included one or two example texts from each module, to get you started. Do remember that in all classes these works will be contextualised for you – so if you find any of them a bit hard to grasp at first, don’t worry! You will be guided on how to meaningfully engage with primary and secondary study materials.
You are not expected to buy all of these texts, and there is no obligation or expectation that you will have completed all of this reading/viewing for when classes start in October. (In some cases only parts of some texts will be used, too – e.g. from edited volumes.) Nor is there is any specific work that you need to do before then – first sessions are always dedicated to introducing your modules’ topics and learning activities. But if you are excited to get started, then this list is a great place to begin!
We have included links to online retailers for suggested editions of, or for online access to, these works. Other useful resources for getting hold of books for Modern Languages students are abebooks and the European Bookshop. Doing research into the authors of the works, and into the broader topics that the works are about is another very useful way to begin exploring and getting a sense of the topics that we use them to teach.
We also recommend you explore the British Council, Institut Français, Instituto Italiano di cultura a Londra, and Instituto Cervantes, and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting for an abundance of cultural, linguistic and careers inspiration. In addition, Netflix, Amazon Prime, the BBC iPlayer and Channel 4’s All4 contain an increasing number of programmes in French, Italian and Spanish. So make the most of those, too!
Modules in French and Francophone Studies
FR1050 Introduction to French Studies
- Comic book: Jacques Tardi, C’était la guerre des tranchées (1993)
- Novel: Azouz Begag, Le gone du Chaâba (1986)
English translation: Shantytown Kid - Film: Claire Denis, Chocolat (1988)
FR1027 Introduction to Francophonie
- Novel: Kamel Daoud, Meursaultcontre-enquête(2013)
English translation: Kamel Daoud, The Meursault Investigation - Novel: Ferdinand Oyono, Une Vie de boy (1956)
English translation: Ferdinand Oyono, Houseboy
FR1014 Twentieth Century French Literature
- Short play: Eugène Ionesco, ‘La leçon’ (1973) (This play is usually published alongside other works by the same playwright, rather than individually)
English translation: Eugène Ionesco ‘Rhinoceros’, ‘Chairs’ and ‘The Lesson’
Modules in Italian Studies
IT1028 Introduction to Italian Studies
- Short Stories: Giovannni Verga, ‘Rosso Malpelo’, from the collection Vita dei Campi (1880), and Luigi Pirandello, ‘Marsina stretta’ / ‘The Tight Frock Coat’ (1901). Both found in the bilingual Italian/English collection Novelle Italiane/Italian Stories , edited by Robert A. Hall Jr.
- Film: Roberto Rossellini, Roma città aperta / Rome Open City (1945)
IT1027 Italian Authors and Genres
- Short stories: Nick Roberts, (ed.), New Penguin parallel text short stories in Italian / Racconti in italiano (London: Penguin, 1999)
- Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo, ovvero, Le stagioni in città (1993)
English translation: Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo, or The seasons in the city
IT1029 Italy since 1945
- Documentary: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Comizi d’amore [Love meetings] (1964). This is available on YouTube
- Film: Paolo Sorrentino, Il Divo (2008)
Modules in Spanish and Latin American Studies
SP1022 Introduction to Spanish and Latin American Studies
- Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (1568) (This book is very expensive – please don’t think you have to buy it! You don’t need to own your own copy of this)
English translation: The History of the Conquest of New Spain (1568)
Googlebooks 2008 edition of the text, with an Introduction by David Carrasco. It does not include the full text, but it does have the Introduction in full.
- Miguel Leon Portilla (ed.),Visión de los vencidos (1959)
English translation: The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
Googlebooks revised 2007 edition – not the full text, but enough to give you a flavour.
SP1031 Introduction to Latin American Literature and Film
- Short stories: Isabel Allende, Cuentos de Eva Luna (1989)
English translation: The Stories of Eva Luna
SP1041 Introduction to Spanish Literature and Film
- Play: Federico García Lorca, Yerma, (1934) (The link is to a bilingual Spanish/English edition)
Modules in Translation Studies
The Translation Studies team encourage you always to keep your eyes open for examples of the many ways that translation appears in our everyday lives – and to collect interesting examples and bring them to class for discussion!
TS1001 Introduction to Translating and TS1003 Introduction to Translation Studies
- David Bellos, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything (2012)
- Umberto Eco,Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation (2003)
TS1002 Introduction to Interpreting
- Claire Caims, Public Speaking without Fear: How to Overcome Anxiety and Present with Confidence (2019)
Videos on Interpreting
- Lýdia Machová at the Polyglot Gathering 2015, ‘The Pleasures and Pains of Working as an Interpreter’
- Nick Roche at the Centre de Conférences Albert Borschette in Brussels, November 1999, ‘Note-taking for consecutive interpretation’
- Alison Graves, ‘Interpretation at the European Parliament’ (2013)
- Richard Fleming, ‘Starting simultaneous interpreting’ (2014)
Modules in English (Modern Languages and English)
EN1020 The Novel Around the World
- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
- E. M. Forster, A Passage to India (1924)
- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (1956)
- Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
- Indra Sinha, Animal’s People (2007)
- Zadie Smith, NW (2012)
EN1050 Renaissance Drama: Shakespeare and his Contemporaries
- Ben Jonson, Volpone (1605-06)
- Christopher Marlowe, Edward II (1593) and Tamburlaine the Great (Part One) (1587-88)
- William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (1607), As You Like It (1599) and King Lear (1606)
EN1037 Describing Language
- Andrew John Merrison, Aileen Bloomer, Patrick Griffiths, Christopher J. Hall, Introducing Language in Use (2005, 2014)
EN1040 History of the English Language
For this module, you can prepare by reading an engaging introduction to the topic, such as:
- Simon Horobin, How English became English: A Short History of a Global Language (2016)
- Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that Way (1990)
- David Crystal, The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language (1988)
- Melvyn Bragg, The Adventure of English: A Biography of a Language (2003)
Modules in Management Studies (BA Modern Languages with Management)
MN1000 Management Theory and Debate
- Linda Yueh The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today (2018)
(For this text the module tutors particularly recommend exploring the chapters on Smith, Ricardo, Keynes, Hayek, and Friedman) - Mark Tadajewski, Elizabeth Parsons, Pauline Maclaran, and Martin Parker, Key concepts in Critical Management Studies (2011). Sage: London.
(This is a handbook of shortish entries, worth browsing through the topics for entries that interest you.)
MN1010 Business Finance and Reporting
- Paul M. Collier, Accounting for managers: interpreting accounting information for decision making, (2003) (For this text, module tutors recommend exploring the first 3 chapters)
Modules in Politics (BA European Studies)
PL1012 Comparative European Politics
- Rod Hague, Martin Harrop and John McCormick, Comparative Government and Politics (2019; 11th edition)
PL1015 The Global Cold War: International Relations 1945-1989
- Odd Arne Westad, The Cold War: A World History (2018)
- VM Zubok, A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (2007)