The PhD in Literature is an academic and research-oriented program aimed at training scholars capable of rigorously examining literary phenomena in their full complexity, spanning local, regional, and global traditions. Its distinctive feature lies in its emphasis on the direct analysis of literary works, combined with methodological pluralism and a strong articulation with other areas of the Humanities, particularly Philosophy and History.

This interdisciplinary integration enhances doctoral students’ critical, reflective, and creative capacities, preparing them to conduct original research grounded in literary sources and open to dialogue with diverse theoretical frameworks and contextual approaches. The program encourages exploration World Literature, Chilean, and Latin American traditions, fostering comparative perspectives that expand the horizons of literary knowledge.

Another hallmark of the program is its personalized training model, which combines close faculty mentorship with collaborative work within an active and rigorous academic community. This approach supports the comprehensive development of academic vocation, preparing graduates to make meaningful contributions to literary research and cultural reflection at both national and international levels.

Main Research Areas: Global and Regional Literary Traditions

1. Spanish Golden Age and Elizabethan Literature

This research area examines poetry, narrative, drama, and emblematic literature of the Spanish Golden Age, as well as issues of representation, theatrical spaces, gender, and emotions in the Elizabethan period. Emphasis is placed on the critical reading of works by leading authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including Garcilaso de la Vega, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint John of the Cross, Miguel de Cervantes, Mateo Alemán, Luis de Góngora, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Francisco de Quevedo, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Baltasar Gracián, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Cary, Edmund Spenser, and John Donne, among others.

1. Colonial Literature

This area focuses on chronicles, cartas de relación (official reports to the Spanish crown), memorials, novels, poetry (epic, satirical, amorous, and sacred), sermons, political discourses of the Enlightenment and Independence, colonial drama, and treatises (military, philosophical, and theological). Key authors include: Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Bartolomé de las Casas, Francisco López de Gómara, Pedro Cieza de León, José de Acosta, Alonso de Ercilla, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Pedro de Oña, Alonso de Ovalle, Diego de Rosales, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

1. Hispanic American and Chilean Literature

This research field addresses literature from the period of Independence to the present, emphasizing dialogue between literary works and tradition. It explores the construction of identities, the relationship of literature to processes of modernization (economic, social, and cultural), and its expression across genres and media. The area also investigates ecological and humanistic concerns from an ecocritical perspective. Research focuses on major authors of Chilean and Hispanic American literature from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries, including Andrés Bello, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Rubén Darío, Alfonso Reyes, Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda, Nicanor Parra, and Mario Vargas Llosa.

Complementary Research Areas in World Literature

In addition to the three primary research areas, the PhD program offers complementary fields covering diverse periods and genres of World Literature, including Ancient and Medieval Literature, as well as Modern and Contemporary Poetry and Narrative. These topics are explored through elective eight-week seminars offered each semester in an online format, allowing students to engage with comparative, transnational, and interdisciplinary perspectives.