Reference Sources for General Literature and Theory
Encyclopedias on Literature
- Gale LiteratureA literature database combining biographical, bibliographical, and contextual
information on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Includes both textual and visual material from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Authors, and Contemporary Literary Criticism.
- Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural TheoryCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PN 81 E435 2011Publication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011Covering literary theory from 1900 to the present, as well as cultural theory, this encyclopedia provides accessible entries on the important concepts, theorists and trends.
- Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and CriticismCall Number: Print copy: Olin Reference PN81 J554 2005+Publication Date: 2004Contains signed, in-depth overviews of the major schools of literary theory Useful for understanding literary concepts, e.g., Postcolonial Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, Race and Ethnicity, etc.
- Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and PoeticsCall Number: Olin Reference PN1021 N39 2012+ (also Olin 501)Publication Date: 4th ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012A revised and updated version of the major reference work for poetry. Compiled by an entirely new team of editors, this first new edition in almost twenty years reflects recent changes in literary and cultural studies, providing up-to-date coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry, all while preserving the best of the previous volumes. [publisher] 1993 edition also available online.
Reading Citations
Reference Sources for International Literatures
- Black Studies CenterBlack Studies Center combines invaluable resources for research and teaching in Black studies: Schomburg studies on the Black experience, International index of Black periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago defender, ProQuest dissertations for Black studies, and Black literature index. This fully cross-searchable gateway to Black studies includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more.
- Encyclopedia of African LiteratureCall Number: Olin Reference PL8010 .E63x 2003ISBN: 9780415230193Publication Date: Routledge, 2003Covers the key historical and cultural issues in the field; contains over 600 entries covering criticism and theory, African literature's development as a field of scholarship, and studies of established and lesser-known writers and their texts. Also covers the literature back to the earliest eras of story-telling and oral transmission,
- Cambridge Companion to Asian American LiteratureCall Number: Print copy in Olin stacks PS153.A84 C35 2015Publication Date: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2015Surveys Asian American literature from the nineteenth century to the present day, exploring the variety of historical periods, literary genres and cultural movements, representative movements, regional settings, archival resources and critical reception. Chapter 7 addresses Asian American drama.
- Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in EnglishCall Number: Olin Reference PR9080 A52 E53 2005Publication Date: Routledge, 2005This three-volume set covers the history and development of the literatures of the colonies of the former British Commonwealth, and includes original research relating to the literatures of some fifty countries and mandated territories. In addition to entries by genre, subject, and biography, there are also important "overviews" for selected major subjects and genres in the form of comparative essays which explore the issues over a variety of countries. Includes a comprehensive index to authors, subjects, and works.
- Native American Literatures : an Encyclopedia of Works, Characters, Authors, and Themes.Call Number: Olin stacks PS153.I52 W47x 1999Publication Date: ABC-CLIO, c1999An encyclopedia of Native American literatures featuring articles on individual authors, on individual works, on important characters in works, and on terms and events of historical significance that figure in many of the works.
- Oxford Companion to African American LiteratureCall Number: Olin Library Reference PS153.N5 O98 1997Publication Date: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997Includes entries on 150 major works of African American literature, on literary characters, and on icons of black culture Here, too, are general articles on the traditional literary genres; on genres of special import in African American letters, such as autobiography, slave narratives, Sunday School literature, and oratory.
Olin Reference Collection
Encyclopedias are great for:
- choosing a topic
- educating yourself quickly
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, terminology
- bibliography