The Department of English supports research into the production, transmission, and reception of literatures in English from the earliest period to the present day.

Acknowledging the long and continuing importance of English as a world language, our aim is to investigate the historical, geographical, and contemporary contexts in which literary texts are produced in the UK, in its former colonies, and in many other parts of the world. Through individual and collaborative projects we undertake specialist research in the literatures of all periods. We interrogate what ‘literature’ is at different historical moments, who writes it and who reads it, and we evaluate the significance of English literature in the formation of cultural identities, beliefs, and cultural capital.

Our research covers a wide range of approaches and methodologies, including literary criticism, literary history, interdisciplinary approaches, cultural materialism, critical and cultural theory, archival research, discourse analysis, digital humanities, scholarly editing and creative writing across all genres, including creative non-fiction. Attention to questions of genre, literary form, rhetoric, and language underpins our work. Our research strategy is managed by the Research Advisory Group, comprising Associate Professors/Readers and Professors in the department, who also provide research mentoring for all staff.