Applying for a Comparative Literature PhD coming from an English Literature background

[Xavilamo]

Hello,

I am international student from India and I would like apply to some Comparative Literature PhD programs  (NYU, CUNY, etc). I have a BA and an MA in English literature. I am fluent in two Indian languages (Hindi and Bengali) and have intermediate level knowledge of two foreign languages (French and Italian). My Italian is decently poor and my French is decently good, however I have never taken University level courses in either (my university does not offer courses in foreign languages, I have studied French and Italian at foreign language schools run by the embasies of the respective countries), will this be a huge disadvantage? I was guessing that since most of these departments do not have a specific foreign language fluency requirement at the time of admission this would not matter so much, however (errr....right?).

I am still plan on applying to some English departments but my research interests are more in sync with comparative literature. Also in the case of NYU, for example, I prefer the Comp Lit faculty over the English faculty. Do you think I should be more, i don't know....practical....and focus squarely on English departments?

 

please help.

 

Oh yes, although I am fluent in two Indian languages, I don't want to pursue a PhD in PoCo and would prefer something in Literary Theory (hence the focus on French; I know no German). 

[Glasperlenspieler]

Hi! I certainly don't think your language skills will put you at a disadvantage. Having a command of five languages to varying degrees should be more than sufficient. The one question I would have would be about the applicability of your languages to your research interests. I think comparative literature programs want to see not only that you have substantial language skills, but more specifically that your language skills are strong enough to allow you to pursue the research projects that you want to take on. So your knowledge of Hindi and Bengali will be less helpful if you don't plan on studying Indian texts at all. But if you're hoping to pursue a comparative project relating Indian texts to European ones, then I'd say you have pretty good preparation so long as everything else is up to par (writing samples, proposed course of study, grades, letters of rec, etc.).

The other thing that it may be important to demonstrate is that you have some familiarity with French and Italian literature and not just the language, although I don't think that necessarily means you have to have read them in the original (although that's certainly helpful!).

[ThousandsHardships]

Given your background, I think it really boils down to how you formulate your statement of purpose. The most common mistake that students make when writing their SOP is that they focus too much on their personal interests and passions and desires for the future, and not enough on their actual research experience. Objectively, I don't think you're at a disadvantage for comparative literature. Plenty of comp lit students come from a background in a single foreign literature, and your multilingual background will actually be a huge asset, regardless of which languages you choose to study for your PhD. However, when you write your SOP, make sure to key in on your background in English literature and the specific research you have done within English. Do connect it and broaden it up to what your future interests may be, but the essential part is "connect." Even if your interests are outside of your current experience, you still should connect it to your past experience and how your experience will help you pursue them. Don't overemphasize personal pursuits and influences that are not at least in some way grounded in your academic course work and research experience.

Edited October 27, 2016 by ThousandsHardships