Literature- General Subject Guide - University Libraries, University of Hartford
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    Literature- General - Subject Guide

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    Sections in this category: General Resources | Dictionaries | Encyclopedias

    General Resources

    The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English
    Coverage of novelists, poets, playwrights, and their works embraces both the established classics of English literature and a wealth of contemporary figures from all over the English-speaking world.

    The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English
    The book reflects the spread of literacy, the history of colonization and the development of post-colonial cultures using and changing the English language.

    Critical Terms for Literary Study
    Exploring the concepts that shape the way we read, the essays combine to provide an extraordinary introduction to the work of literature and literary study, as the nation's most distinguished scholars put the tools of critical practice vividly to use.

    Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion
    Topics covered include misogyny and women's social roles in ancient civilizations, 16th-century women's devotional literature, 17th- and 18th-century women's captivity narratives, the women's suffrage movement in 19th-century America, women writers of the "Lost Generation," lesbian literature, and much more.

    History of Feminist Literary Criticism
    Offers a comprehensive guide to the history and development of feminist literary criticism and a lively reassessment of the main issues and authors in the field.

    History of South African Literature
    A critical study of South African literature, from colonial and pre-colonial times onwards.

    Palgrave Guide to English Literature and its Contexts, 1500-2000
    Guide to the historical and cultural context of English literature covers the core periods of literature, and history, from the English Renaissance to the present.


    Dictionaries

    Chambers Dictionary of Literary Characters
    Provides an invaluable guide to the wealth of characters created by writers in English.

    A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
    Based on literature, rather than "universal" psychological archetypes, myths, or esoterica. Also in print in Mortensen Library Shelves [PN56.S9 F47 1999].


    Encyclopedias

    Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art
    Mortensen Library Reference N7560 .E53 1998 Check Status

    Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics - Princeton
    Comprehensive reference work dealing with all aspects of its subject: history, types, movements, prosody, and critical terminology. Prepared by recognized authorities, its articles treat their topics in sufficient depth and with enough lucidity to satisfy the scholar and the general reader alike.

    Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work
    This comprehensive scholarly work presents a broad spectrum of voices remembering, interpreting, and reinterpreting one of the twentieth century's most politically and emotionally charged events.


    Academic Search Premier
    Indexing and abstracts for over 8,000 journals in all subject areas, with full text of articles from nearly 4,600. Includes some popular magazines as well as scholarly journals.

    Dictionary of Literary Biography
    Lengthy, full text biographical and critical essays on world literary figures from all eras and genres. Limited number of simultaneous users. Be sure to close when finished searching.

    Essay & General Literature Index with Retrospective
    Years Covered: 1900-
    Essay & General Literature offers access to tens of thousands of essays that are otherwise all but inaccessible. This resource also unlocks a wealth of information in thousands of collections and anthologies, making your library more valuable to researchers in a wide array of fields.

    FindArticles (Look Smart)
    Searches for articles in approximately 900 magazines and journals. Emphasis on trade publications. Text only - no graphic content available. Some articles available to subscribers or for a fee only.

    Google Scholar
    Search for scholarly literature across disciplines and sources. Includes peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, etc. Particularly strong in sciences and social sciences. Selected full text. Many links are to publisher's sites which sell access. ON Campus - links to U of H holdings are available. OFF Campus - U of H users should check our holdings and use Interlibrary Services as needed.

    Humanities Abstracts
    Strong resource index for all aspects of the Humanities including: Archaeology, Area Studies, Art, Classical Studies, Communications, Dance, Film, Folklore, Gender Studies, History, Journalism, Linguistics, Literary & Social Criticism Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Religion and Theology

    Literature Resource Center
    Biographies, bibliographies and critical analysis of more than 90,000 authors, poets, journalists and other writers. Search by name, title, genre, literary movement or literary theme. Provides access to essays in the literary themes. Made available by iCONN.org, the Connecticut Digital Library. Selected full text available.

    MLA Bibliography
    International index of books and journals. Covers modern languages, literature, linguistics, and folklore. For information about the periodicals included, consult the MLA Directory of Periodicals.

    Open Access Theses and Dissertations
    Resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world.

    Paris Review: Interview Archive
    A complete index of every interview ever published, searchable by author and by date - as well as a substantial sampling of the archive's finest interviews, posted in their entirety.


    Arts and Letters Daily
    A daily survey of "breakthrough" publications in philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and other humanistic disciplines.

    A Celebration of Women Writers
    Biographical information and links to many full text works of women writers in all fields from every country and historical period, from 3000 B.C. to the present. Searchable by name, date, country or ethnicity

    Critical Reading: A Guide
    A professor outlines the process of analyzing literature for the beginning college student. The emphasis is on poetry (including sections on genre, structure, meaning and imagery) and fiction (sections on character, language, and world-view).

    Electronic Literature Directory
    Links to works in all genres using multimedia tools to create literature. Search or browse by author, by genre or by technique.

    English Language Resources (Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia)
    Electronic versions of thousands of texts in English.

    Goethe Institut
    Promotes the study of the German language abroad, including initiatives aimed at international cultural cooperation.

    Inter-Play
    International in scope, this index locates plays in collections, anthologies, and periodicals published any time from the late 19th century through the current year.

    Literary Index
    Search by author or the title of a particular work of fiction, poetry, or drama to find out where in the many literature series from the publisher Thomson Gale you can find biographical or critical articles. Mortensen Library subscribes to many of these series.

    Online Literary Criticism Guide
    A directory of highly regarded guides to research sites on the authors of all eras. The emphasis is on English-language authors.

    Voice of the Shuttle: Literature (in English)
    Links to everything literary: author biographies, interviews, full-text works, reviews, critical essays, teaching resources.

    Voices from the Gaps (University of Minnesota)
    Biographical and bibliographical articles on women writers of color from throughout the US. Searchable in several ways including by ethnic/racial identity.