Throughout history and into today’s world, literature has been censored, employed as government propaganda, and used for political protest. The same is true for culture more broadly – think of the way music, film, television and digital media have been used to support campaigns or to exercise power. And the links between culture, literature and politics do not end with these examples. Literature often reflects and incorporates world events; it comments on the way we live. In turn, cultural policy and other aspects of government activity create the conditions in which literature is written, published and read. This distinctive course allows you to bring together the different worlds of culture, literature and politics, and to study them separately and together. It enables you to learn about politics and about literature, but also to explore the connections between the two.