Overview

The Master of Arts in African Literature (by Coursework and Research Report) invites students to deepen their engagement with African and diasporic literary and cultural traditions through a balance of advanced coursework and supervised research. The programme offers a rigorous and imaginative space or thinking about literature, theory, and method from Africa’s intellectual and aesthetic traditions.

足球竞彩app排名s explore how African writing and thought engage questions of freedom, form, language, history, and belonging, while tracing the transnational and cross-cultural itineraries that connect the continent to the wider world. The degree foregrounds Black intellectual and artistic traditions across Africa and its diasporas, emphasising how they reshape global conversations in literary and cultural studies.

Through the coursework component, students gain grounding in key debates, methodologies, and historiographic frameworks that shape the discipline—from oral narrative and popular media to new writing, theory, and decolonial critique. The research report offers an opportunity to pursue an independent project under close supervision, drawing on the department’s expertise in African, diasporic, and comparative literary studies.

Graduates emerge with the conceptual tools and scholarly versatility to contribute to research, publishing, teaching, cultural policy, and creative industries, as well as to ongoing conversations on knowledge, aesthetics, and the humanities from Africa.

Curriculum

Electives vary annually and may include:

• AFRT7006A African Popular Media and the Novel
• AFRT7012A Memory, Violence and Representation in Africa
• AFRT7048A Sentiment, Sensation and Feeling
• AFRT7006A Canonical Writers and the Postcolonial Experience
• AFRT7008A Contemporary Trends in African Literature

Entry Requirements

• A BA Honours degree in African Literature or a cognate discipline with a minimum average of 65%.
• Applicants from related fields (e.g. English, Cultural Studies, Media, History, or Philosophy) are encouraged to apply; the coursework provides disciplinary grounding.
• Applicants should demonstrate strong writing skills and a clear intellectual interest in African and diasporic literary studies.

Required Documents

The following documents are required for postgraduate applicants to the department:

• Certified copy of degree certificate/s
• Certified copy of academic transcript/s
• Proposed field of interest (1–2 paragraphs indicating intended research direction)
• Letter of motivation outlining research interests and reasons for applying
• Two academic references

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Applicants who do not meet formal entry requirements but can demonstrate significant professional, creative, or research experience may apply under the University’s RPL policy. RPL applications are reviewed case by case and must include a portfolio of work and letter of motivation outlining prior learning and intellectual trajectory.

International 足球竞彩app排名s:

All international applicants must submit proof of English language proficiency (IEL TS/TOEFL) if prior qualifications were not in English.

International and South African students with foreign qualifications must include a SAQA Certificate of Evaluation (SCoE) or proof of application. SAQA maps the qualification to the NQF and verifies the awarding institution.

University Application Process

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.