| MMC
NOTEBOOK - NOTE #A11: FINDING
LITERARY CRITICISM
J. A. Cuddon in A Dictionary of
Literary Terms (1977) states that:
"The art or science of literary criticism
is devoted to the comparison and analysis, to the interpretation and
evaluation of works of literature." (p. 163)
The college student may encounter
literary criticism in several ways. The most frequent is to read
criticism of a novel or other work which the student is
studying. As well as criticism of a single work, there is also
the criticism of an individual writer’s style, body of works, and
place within literature. A third type of criticism is that
dealing with a geographic place, a literary genre, a time in
history, ethnic group, religion, gender, a psychological construct
or other defining characteristic of written works.
And encompassing all of these is the
philosophical and theoretical analysis of the function of literature
in the human condition. The methods for writing and analyzing
literature are themselves critiqued.
While most undergraduate assignments
usually require the first type, the other types can provide more
breadth and depth in preparing a student’s own analysis of a work.
Included below are a sample search strategy and the types of sources
for literary criticism in the Busse Center Library.
SEARCH STRATEGY
1. If
uncertain where to begin, speak with the Reference Librarian. Or at
any time you have questions, do not hesitate to
ask.
2. Use
HORIZON, the catalog, to locate books about the work under
study.
A SUBJECT search on the title of the work
may yield criticism of this title. Also search the author as a
SUBJECT. Books about the author may include material on the work in
question.
A KEYWORD search by the author’s name and
by the major words in the title, may lead to a chapter in a book
which discusses this work. The book found may analyze works of
author(s), a country, a time, etc.
Another type of both SUBJECT and KEYWORD
search might be one of the defining characteristics of the book or
author, such as black women writers or African short
stories.
3. Use
the electronic and paper periodical indexes found in the Reference
area. The electronic indexes linked to the Periodicals and Other
Databases webpage, may be searched by SUBJECT or
KEYWORD. The paper indexes may be searched by AUTHOR and
SUBJECT.
Suggested electronic periodical indexes
are: Academic Search from EBSCOhost, LexisNexis Academic, ERIC
and MLA. Useful print indexes include; Humanities Index,
Social Science & Humanities Index, Essay and General Literature
Index, Readers Guide, Nineteenth century readers' guide to
periodical literature, 1890-1899, and Bibliographic
Index.
4. Use
this selective bibliography and other relevant books which may be
found near these call numbers.
- Atkins, J. W. H. Literary criticism in
antiquity; a sketch of its development. 1961. PA 3013 .A8
1961
- Duff, J. Wight A literary history of
Rome 1953. PA 6003 .D8 1953
- Erlich, Victor. Twentieth-century
Russian literary criticism. 1975. PG 2932 T9
- Adelman, Irving. The contemporary
novel; a checklist of critical literature on the British and
American novel. 1972. PN 3451 .A3x Ref.
- Horvath, B. K. A cumulative index to
Modern fiction studies (1955-1984) volumes 1-30. 1985. PN 3491
H6x
- Beach, Joseph. The Twentieth century
novel. c1932. PN 3503 .B4
- Abrams, M. H. A glossary of leterary
terms. c1993. PN 41 .A184 1993
- Cuddon, J. A. A dictionary of literary
terms. 1977. PN 41 .C83 1977b Ref.
- Patterson, Margaret C. Literary
research guide. 1983. PN 43 .P3x Ref.
- Cohen, Ralph. The Future of literary
theory. 1989. PN 441 .F8 1989
- Newton, K.M. Interpreting the text.
1990. PN 441 .N45 1990.
- Myers, Robin. A dictionary of
literature in the English language, from Chaucer to 1940.
[1970] PN6 014 .M9x Ref.
- Kunitz, Stanley. Twentieth century
authors, a biographical dictionary of modern literature.
1942. PN 771 .K86 Ref.
- Klein, Leonard S. Encyclopedia of
world literature in the 20th century. c1981-c1984. PN 774 .L433
1981 Ref.
- Fleischmann, Wolfgang. Encyclopedia of
world literature in the 20th century. [1967-75] PN 774 .L433
Ref.
- Bressler, Charles E. Literary
criticism. c1994. PN 81 .B666 1994
- Makaryk, Irene. Encyclopedia of
contemporary literary theory. c 1993. PN 81 .E43 1993 Ref.
- Allen, Gay Wilson. Literary criticism;
Pope to Croce. [c1941] PN 86 .A5
- Kennedy, George. The Cambridge history
of literary criticism. 1989. PN 86 .C27 1989.
- Wimsatt, William K. Literary
criticism; a short history. 1957. PN 86 .W5
- Davis, Robert. Contemporary literary
criticism. c1989. PN 94 .C67 1989
- Altick, Richard. The art of literary
research. c1963. PR 33 .A4
- Harner, James L. Literary research
guide. 1993. PR 83 .H3x 1993
- Drabble, Margaret. The Oxford
companion to English literature. 1995. PR 19 .D73 1995 Ref. [also
1985]
- Gurney, Stephen. British poetry of the
nineteenth century. c1993. PR 451 .G87 1993
- Stevenson, Lionel. Nineteenth-century
literary perspectives. 1974. PR 453 N53
- NCATE. Contemporary literary
scholarship: a critical review. [1958] PR 77.N3
- Baugh, Albert. A literary history of
England. [c1948] PR 83 .B3
- Reilly, John M. Twentieth-century
crime and mystery writers. [1982?] PR 888 .D4 T8 Ref.
- Lindfors, Bernth. Twentieth-century
Caribbean and Black African writers. c1993. PR 9205 .A52 T89 1993
Ref.
- Gerstenberger, Donna. The American
novel; a checklist of twentieth-century criticism. 1961-70 PS 201
.G4x Ref.
- Hart, James. The Oxford companion to
American literature. 1948. PS 21 .H3 1948 Ref.
- Hart, James. The Oxford companion to
American literature. 1995. PS 21 .H3 1995 Ref. [also 1965,
1983]
- ... The concise Oxford companion to
American literature. 1986. PS 21 .H32 1986 Ref.
- Western Literature Association (U.S.)
A Literary history of the American West. c1987. PS 271 .L58
1987
- Nemanic, Gerald. A Bibliographical
guide to midwestern literature. c1981. PS 273 .B5x Ref.
- Andrews, Clarence A. A literary
history of Iowa. 1972. PS 283.I8 A8 Ref.
- Stevick, Philip. The American short
story, 1900-1945. 1984. PS 374.S5 A366 1984
- Weaver, Gordon. The American short
story, 1945-1980. 1983. PS 374.S5 A37 1983
- Lee, A. Robert. The Nineteenth-century
American short story. 1986. PS 374.S5 N5 1986
- Tompkins, Jane P. Sensational designs
: the cultural works of American fiction, 1790-1860. 1986.
PS 374.S7 T66 1986
- McPheron, William. The bibliography of
contemporary American fiction, 1945-1988. c1989. PS
379 .M3x Ref.
- Wagner-Martin, Linda. The modern
American novel, 1914-1945. c1990. PS 379 .W27 1990
- Spiller, Robert. Literary history of
the United States. 1957. PS 88 .L5 1957. [also 1963, 1972]
- Burke, John. Regional perspectives.
1973. PS 92 .B78 1973
- Elliot, Emory. Columbia literary
history of the United States. 1988. PS 92 .C64 1988
- Walker, Warren S. Twentieth-century
short story explication. 1977. PZ 1 .W3x Ref.
- Contemporary Authors. [basic literary
biographies] Z 1224 .C6 Ref.
- McNeil, Barbara. Twentieth-century
author biographies master index. c1984. Z 5304.A8 T83 1984
Ref.
5. Some literary criticism can be
found on the WWW particularly sites organized around specific
authors. A number of WWW literary criticism sites are found on the
Busse Virtual
English Library page. |
