Comparative Literature: A Guide to Library Resources: Africa

DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, HANDBOOKS AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Companion to African literatures. Indiana University Press, 2000. Africana Reference PR9340 .C65x 2000 , also Olin stacks .

Includes 1,000 cross-referenced entries covering classics in African writing, literary genres and movements, biographical details of authors, and wider themes linking African, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American literatures.

Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française en Afrique au sud du Sahara. Harmattan, 2001. Olin Reference PQ3980 .A52 D551 1996 and Olin Reference PQ3980 .A52 D551 2001

Historical dictionary of francophone African writers and their work. Volume 1 covers begininngs to 1978, volume 2 covers 1979-1989. .

Ecritures littéraires: dictionnaire critique des œuvres africaines de langue française. Presses universitaires du Nouveau Monde, 2002. Olin Reference PQ3980.A52 P583 2002

Volume 1 only. Covers francophone African literature.

Encyclopedia of African Literature. Taylor & Francis, 2003. Online.

"contains almost 700 entries on the major historical and cultural issues concerning the study of African literature, the theoretical and critical issues that have affected its interpretation, and the movements and institutions that have governed its development as a field of scholarship." (introduction)

A New Reader's Guide to African Literature. 2nd ed. Africana, 1983. Library Annex PL 8010 Z51 1983; also Africana Reference

According to its introduction, this work lists "3091 works by black African authors south of the Sahara writing in English, French and Portuguese. Reference material. critical works and anthologies are also included, as are children's books." The cut-off date for listings is 1981. The first four sections of this work are devoted to bibliographies, critical studies (both general and of specific authors), reference works and listings of folklore and oral tradition. These selections are followed by regional groupings (e.g. East Africa, English-speaking Africa, etc.) subdivided by country (e.g. Cameroon, etc.). Within each country individual authors are listed alphabetically, with their works listed chronologically. All entries are annotated and most contain both critical and biographical information.

Oxford Bibliographies: African Studies

Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on African studies. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. Combines broad introductions to such subjects as African society, politics, or literature with specific studies of individual peoples, states, or literary traditions.

Student encyclopedia of African literature. Greenwood, c2008. Online.

"Included are roughly 600 alphabetically arranged entries on writers, genres, and major works. Many entries cite works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography." (publisher)

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

African writers. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons c1997. 2 v. Uris Library Dean Room, South Wall PL 8010 A453x 1997; also Africana Reference

Covers late-19th and 20th century writers from the African continent. Arranged alphabetically by author name, signed entries include short biographies, some critical commentary, and bibliographies of both primary and secondary sources. Includes a list of included writers grouped by country. An introduction discusses the themes of colonization, identity and language.

African Authors: a Companion to Black African Writing 1300-1973. Black Orpheus Press, 1973. Olin Reference PL 8010 H54; also Africana

Over 500 biographical entries ranging from half-a-column to several pages. Basic bibliographies are provided for each author. Many useful appendices, listing authors by genre, for example, or by language employed. This is a useful reference source for anyone researching African literature.

Contemporary African writers.Gale Cengage Learning, c2011. Uris Library Reference PS129 .D55 v.360 +

Biographical essays and work overviews of African writers, most but not all born between 1940 and the mid-1960s. Content also included in Gale Literature.

Dicionário de autores de literaturas africanas de língua portuguesa. Caminho, c1997. Olin stacks PQ9900.A52 G66x 1997

Biographical dictionary of lusophone African writers, largely 20th century.

Postcolonial African Writers. A Bio-bibliographical Sourcebook. Greenwood, 1998. Olin Reference PL 8010 P585x 1998

Contains alphabetically arranged biographies and critical appraisals of more than 60 African writers who have come to prominence since the demise of European colonialism. Introductory essays provide historical and cultural context, and each signed biographical entry includes both a bibliography of the author's work and a substantial list of references to secondary sources in both books and journals. A selected bibliography at the end of the volume emphasizes sources on postcolonial theory and gender issues in postcolonial society.

Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African writers. First Series. Uris Reference PS129 .D55 v.117 , also Africana Reference PR9205.A52 T96 1992
Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African writers. Second Series. Uris Reference PS129 .D55 v.125 , also Africana Reference PR9205.A52 T97 1993
Twentieth-century Caribbean and Black African writers. Third Series. Uris Reference PS129 .D55 v.157 , also Africana Reference PR9205.A52 T893x 1996 Gale Research, c1992-1996.

Three volumes in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series contain biographies and world overviews of writers from Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, St. Lucia, Dominica, Nigeria, and Jamaica, most publishing work in the 20th century. Content also included in Gale Literature.

SELECTED INTERNET RESOURCES

Africa-wide NiPAD

Combining 16 databases from three continents searchable together for the first time, this resource contains over 850,000 indexed references, many with abstracts. Records are derived from books, periodical articles, pamphlets, maps and music recordings. Topics include politics, history, economics, business, mining, development, social issues, anthropology, literature, language, law, music and much more.

John Henrik Clarke Africana Library (Cornell)

Information about and links to both local and remote resources related to the study of African and African-American culture, including full-text digital periodicals and historical documents.

InAfrica.it

Il portale dedicato all'Africa e ai popoli africani in Italia. Contiene informazioni anche su una nuova generazione di autori africani che vivono in Italia e scrivono in italiano, raccontando la vita nel loro Paese adottivo.

For more resources, visit the Africana Library.