文学院前身是我校1954年建校时创办的中文科，后经中文系、文学与新闻学院，2009年院系调整更名为文学院。刘知渐、董味甘、蒋洛平、李敬敏、杨成章、黎新第等知名专家，莫怀戚等著名作家执教于此，为学院发展奠定了良好的基础。学院是教育部本科教学质量综合改革试点单位，“汉语言文学”专业为国家级特色专业和首批国家级一流本科专业建设点、“汉语国际教育”专业为重庆市一流本科专业建设点；“中国语言文学”一级学科为重庆市“十三五”、“十四五”重点学科；有重庆市人文社科重点研究基地“重庆市抗战文史研究基地”；有4个市级优秀教学科研团队、1门国家级一流本科课程、2门市级一流课程和5门市级精品课程、2个市级研究生联合培养基地、1个市级研究生导师团队。

学院现有教职工106人，其中教授32人，副教授34人，专任教师博士占82.02%，兼职博导16人，硕士生导师64人。学院多名教师被授予国家和省（市）级人才称号，其中享受“国务院政府特殊津贴”1人，入选重庆市“两江学者”“重庆英才·优秀科学家” “重庆英才·创新领军人才”“重庆英才·青年拔尖人才”“巴渝学者”“重庆市有突出贡献的中青年专家”等9人，省部级人才称号22人次，在国家级学会担任理事及其以上职务的专家18人。

学院下设汉语言文学、秘书学、汉语国际教育、戏剧影视文学四个全日制本科专业，自1986年开始招收硕士研究生，2005年获得中国语言文学一级学科硕士学位授予权，在所属8个二级学科全面招生，同时招收学科教学（语文）和汉语国际教育专业硕士学位研究生。学院现有本科学生2100余人，研究生近450余人，留学生15人。学院以“中学语文卓越教师人才培养模式创新实验区”建设为抓手，以教育部“专业综合改革试点项目”为契机，“卓越教师计划”与“地方优师计划”“精是师资计划”“学术英才计划”并驾齐驱，全面开展汉语言文学（师范）国家级特色专业、国家级一流专业建设点建设。学院以多种方式与中小学、企业开展合作项目，建成了“中学语文卓越教师人才培养模式创新实验区”“中西部初中语文国家级骨干教师培训基地”“重庆市中学骨干教师（语文）培训基地”“重视传媒戏剧影视文学校企合作基地”。

学院秉持“惟精惟是，以文化人”的办院理念，打造了“精是大讲堂”“精是面对面” “精是文库” “精是学人风采”等系列“精是”文化品牌。近五年来，学院教师在《中国社会科学》《文学评论》《文学遗产》《文艺研究》《中国语文》等重要学术刊物上发表论文280余篇，出版学术专著近50部，承担国家社科基金重大招标项目、国家社科基金重点项目等省部级及以上科研项目138项（其中国家社科基金在研项目30项）。学院多项科研成果先后获得重庆市社会科学优秀科研成果一、二、三等奖17项。

College of Liberal Arts, formerly known as the College of Literature & Journalism and the Chinese Language & Literature Department before 2009, is one of the earliest departments founded by Chongqing Normal University in 1954. Well-known experts such as Liu Zhijian, Dong Weigan, Jiang Luoping, Li Jingmin, Yang Chengzhang, Li Xindi, and famous writers such as Mo Huaiqi worked here, laying a good foundation for the development of the college. The college is a pilot unit of the Comprehensive Reform of Teaching Quality of Ministry of Education. The major “Chinese Language and Literature” has been ranked in national level as a featured major and the first batch of national First-class undergraduate major. The major “Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages” is a Chongqing First-class undergraduate major. The first-level discipline of “Chinese Language and Literature” is the key discipline of the 13th Five-Year Plan and the 14th Five-Year Plan of Chongqing. There is a key research base of humanities and social sciences "Chongqing Anti-Japanese War Literature and History Research Center"; and there are 4 excellent teaching and research teams at the municipal level, and 1 national-level first-class undergraduate courses, 1 municipal-level first-class course and 5 municipal-level excellent courses, 2 municipal-level postgraduate joint training bases, and 1 municipal-level postgraduate tutor team.

The college currently has 110 staff, among them, there are 35 professors, 33 associate professors, 63.6% of whom are doctors, 16 part-time doctoral supervisors, and 64 master supervisors. Many teachers have been awarded the title of national and provincial (municipal) talents, including one who enjoys the "Special Government Allowance of the State Council", and 9 teachers were selected as "Liangjiang Scholar" in Chongqing, "Chongqing Yingcai·Excellent Scientist" and "Chongqing Yingcai·Innovation Leading Talent", “Chongqing Yingcai·Young Top Talents”, "Bayu Scholars", "Chongqing Young and Middle-aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions" etc., there are 22 provincial and ministerial-level talents, and 18 experts who are directors in national societies.

The college consists of four full-time undergraduate majors:Chinese Language and Literature,Secretarial Studies,Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, as well asFilm and Television Literature. Since 1986, it has been recruiting postgraduates.Then, its 7 second-class disciplines began to recruit students. Besides, it also recruited students of Curriculum and Pedagogy (Chinese) and MTCSOL at the same time.. The college currently has more than 2,100 undergraduate students, nearly 380 graduate students, and 15 international students.The college takes "The Innovative Experimentation Area of Excellent Second School Chinese Teacher Training Mode" as the grasps, and takes the opportunity of the “Comprehensive Reform” of Ministry of Education as a turning point, and takes advantages of both the "Excellent Teacher Training Program", "Local Excellent Teacher Program" and the "Liberal Arts Talent Program", "Academic Excellence Program" to keep pace with the national-level characteristic majors and national-level first-class majors in Chinese language and literature development. The college has carried out cooperative projects with primary and secondary schools and enterprises in various ways, and has established the "Innovative Experimental Area for the Training Model of Excellent Chinese Teachers in Secondary Schools", "The National Backbone Teacher Training Base for Chinese in Central and Western Junior Schools", "The Training Center for Backbone Teachers (Chinese) in Chongqing Secondary Schools" and "School-Enterprise Cooperation Base that Emphasizes Media, Drama, Film, Television and Literature".

The college adheres to the concept of "Wei Jing Wei Shi, Yi Wen Hua Ren(Emphasize excellence and uphold integrity, be a cultured person)", and has created a series of "Jingshi" brands such as "Jingshi Lecture Hall", "Jingshi Face-to-face", "Jingshi Library" and "Jingshi Scholars".In the past five years, teachers of the college have published more than 270 papers and nearly 50 academic monographs in important academic journals such asSocial Science in China,Literary Review, Studies of the Chinese Language, Literary Heritage, Literature & Art Studies, Modern Chinese Literature Studies,Contention of Literature and ArtThere are 138 scientific research projects at the provincial and ministerial level and above, including major fund bidding projects and key projects of the National Social Science Fund (including 30 ongoing research projects). A number of scientific research achievements of the college have successively won 17 prizes for outstanding scientific research achievements in social sciences in Chongqing.