Literary Criticism for Students (and anyone else)
A guide to researching literary criticism online and at the library
The Print Reference Collection at the Central Library
The Boston Public Library has an extensive print literature reference collection located at the Central Library in Copley Square on the 2nd floor of the McKim Building located in the Washington room. The collection includes encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and more. A selected list of titles are listed here. Click on the subject headings attached to the reference titles included, or search the catalog, for additional resources. Useful subdivision headings to use when searching include:
- Biography -- Dictionaries
- Bibliography
- Bio-bibliography
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
- History and criticism
Defining Terms and Concepts
Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory by
With new entries and sensitive edits, this fifth edition places J.A. Cuddon's indispensable dictionary firmly in the 21st Century. Written in a clear and highly readable style Comprehensive historical coverage extending from ancient times to the present day Broad intellectual and cultural range Expands on the previous edition to incorporate the most recent literary terminology New material is particularly focused in areas such as gender studies and queer theory, post-colonial theory, post-structuralism, post-modernism, narrative theory, and cultural studies. Existing entries have been edited to ensure that topics receive balanced treatment
Call Number: REF PN41 .C83 2013ISBN: 9781444333275
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism has become the indispensable resource for scholars and students of literary theory and discourse. The long-awaited second edition includes 48 new entries and subentries and has been revised throughout, taking account of ten years of rapidly changing scholarship. While concentrating on the explosion of contemporary critical and theoretical works, the Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of ideas and individuals ranging from Plato and Aristotle to twentieth-century scholars. It includes more than 240 alphabetically arranged entries on critics and theorists, critical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. It also examines developments in other disciplines which have shaped literary theory and criticism. An international, encyclopedic guide to the field's most important figures, schools, and movements, the new edition reflects the state of literary theory and criticism.
Call Number: REF PN81 .J554 2005ISBN: 0801880106
The Oxford English Dictionary by
The 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It traces the usage of words through 2.4 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources. The OED has a unique historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that trace the usage of words, and show the contexts in which they can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of sources worldwide - literary, scholarly, technical, and popular - and represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare, Charles Darwin and Isabella Beeton. Other features distinguishing the entries in the Dictionary are authoritative definitions; detailed information on pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet; listings of variant spellings used throughout each word's history; extensive treatment of etymology; and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics. Alongside the print edition is the Oxford English Dictionary Online (www.oed.com). Updated quarterly, this award winning online resource allows the Dictionary to evolve with the English language while the print edition remains as a historical record. Subscriptions are available to OED Online on an individual or institutional basis. Visit www.oup.com/online/oed/ for details.
Call Number: REF PE1625 .O87 1989ISBN: 0198611862
Resources by Nationality and Ethnicity
Encyclopedia of American Literature by
Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition is an extensive reference work that spans the entire scope of American literature, from the colonial period to the present. Now in four chronological volumes, this comprehensive encyclopedia includes entries on writers, works, literary movements, and other topics that high school students and undergraduates are likely to encounter. Four Volumes and More Than 1,000 New Entries, Illustrations, and Study Guide Sections This major update boasts one new volume, approximately 1,000 new entries, more than 300 new black-and-white illustrations, more than 100 new study guide sections on major authors, and more. The majority of the new entries are on new writers and on important works of literature, with a particular emphasis on those most read by high school and college students.
Call Number: REF PS21 .E533 2008ISBN: 9780816064762
Magill's Survey of American Literature by
With essays covering 340 writers, this edition offers profiles of major US and Canadian writers accompanied by analyses of their significant works in fiction, drama, poetry, and non-fiction.
Call Number: REF PS21 .M34 2007ISBN: 9781587652851
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature by
This set treats the whole of American literature, from the European discovery of America to the present, with entries in alphabetical order. Each of the 350 substantive essays is a major interpretive contribution. Well-known critics and scholars provide clear and vividly written essays that reflect the latest scholarship on a given topic, as well as original thinking on the part of the critic. The Encyclopedia is available in print and as an e-reference text from Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf. At the core of the encyclopedia lie 250 essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists. The most prominent figures (such as Whitman, Melville, Faulkner, Frost, Morrison, and so forth) are treated at considerable length (10,000 words) by top-flight critics. Less well known figures are discussed in essays ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 words. Each essay examines the life of the author in the context of his or her times, looking in detail at key works and describing the arc of the writer's career. These essays include an assessment of the writer's current reputation with a bibliography of major works by the writer as well as a list of major critical and biographical works about the writer under discussion. A second key element of the project is the critical assessments of major American masterworks, such as Moby-Dick, Song of Myself, Walden, The Great Gatsby, The Waste Land, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Death of a Salesman, or Beloved. Each of these essays offers a close reading of the given work, placing that work in its historical context and offering a range of possibilities with regard to critical approach. These fifty essays (ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 words) are simply and clearly enough written that an intelligent high school student should easily understand them, but sophisticated enough that a college student or general reader in a public library will find the essays both informative and stimulating. The final major element of this encyclopedia consists of fifty-odd essays on literary movements, periods, or themes, pulling together a broad range of information and making interesting connections. These essays treat many of the same authors already discussed, but in a different context; they also gather into the fold authors who do not have an entire essay on their work (so that Zane Grey, for example, is discussed in an essay on Western literature but does not have an essay to himself). In this way, the project is truly "encyclopedic," in the conventional sense. These essays aim for comprehensiveness without losing anything of the narrative force that makes them good reading in their own right. In a very real fashion, the literature of the American people reflects their deepest desires, aspirations, fears, and fantasies. The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature gathers a wide range of information that illumines the field itself and clarifies many of its particulars.
Call Number: REF PS21 .E537 2004ISBN: 0195156536
The Oxford Companion to English Literature by
The Oxford Companion to English Literature has long been established as the leading reference resource for students, teachers, scholars, and general readers of English literature. It provides unrivalled coverage of all aspects of English literature - from writers, their works, and the historical and cultural context in which they wrote, to critics, literary theory, allusions, and characters. For the seventh edition, the Companion has been thoroughly revised and updated to meet the needs and concerns of today's students and general readers. Over 1,000 new entries have been added, ranging from new writers - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Patrick Marber, David Mitchell, Arundhati Roy - to increased coverage of writers and literary movements from around the world. Coverage of American literature has been substantially increased, with new entries on writers such as Cormac McCarthy and Amy Tan and on movements and publications. Contextual and historical coverage has also been expanded, with new entries on European history and culture, post-colonial literature, as well as writers and literary movements from around the world that have influenced English literature. The Companion has always been a quick and dependable source of reference for students, and the new edition confirms its pre-eminent role as the go-to resource of first choice. All entries have been reviewed, and details of new works, biographies, and criticism have been brought right up to date. So also hascoverage of the themes, aproaches and concepts encountered by students today, from terms to articles on literary theory and theorists. There is increased coverage of writers from around the world, as well as from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and of contextual topics, including film and television, music, and art. Cross-referencing has been thoroughly updated, with stronger linking from writers to thematic and conceptual entries. Meanwhile coverage of popular genres such as children's literature, science fiction, biography, reportage, crime fiction, fantasy or travel literature has been increased substantially, with new entries on writers from Philip Pullman to Anne Frank and from Anais Nin to Douglas Adams. The seventh edition of this classic Companion, now under the joint editorship of Dinah Birch and Margaret Drabble - assisted by a team of 28 distinguished associate editors, and over 150 contributors - ensures that it retains its status as the most authoritative, informative, and accessible guide to literature available.
Call Number: REF PR19 .O94 2009ISBN: 9780192806871
Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature by
From folk ballads to film scripts, this new five-volume encyclopedia covers the entire history of British literature from the seventh century to the present, focusing on the writers and the major texts of what are now the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. In five hundred substantial essays written by major scholars, the Encyclopedia of British Literature includes biographies of nearly four hundred individual authors and a hundred topical essays with detailed analyses of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions whose impact upon the writing or the reading of literature was significant. An ideal companion to The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, this set will prove invaluable for students, scholars, and general readers. For more information, including a complete table of contents and list of contributors, please visit www.oup.com/us/ebl
Call Number: REF PR19 .O95 2006ISBN: 9780195169218
Shakespeare for Students Book I by
The mountain of Shakespearean criticism is often more intimidating to students than Shakespeare's plays themselves. This volume attempts to address this problem with a single, accessible volume of criticism to the playwright's eight most popularly studied plays in secondary schools and undergraduate curriculums - Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and The Merchant of Venice.
Call Number: REF PR2987 .S47 1992ISBN: 0810382474
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature
This new four-volume set covers world authors from many periods and genres, building a broad understanding of the various contexts--from the biographical to the literary to the historical--in which literature can be viewed. The Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature will allow a reader to analyze an author's work as a reflection of the heritage, traditions and experiences of the author's personal life and the beliefs, events, and lifestyles of the world at the time. The nearly 500 entries will also identify the significant literary devices and global themes that define a writer's style and place the author in a larger literary tradition as chronicled and evaluated by critics over time. Critical thinking and activity prompts, in addition to images, will further enhance the reader's own personal response to global literature.
Call Number: REF PN41 .G36 2009ISBN: 9781414448701
The Literary 100 by
Here is the revised and expanded edition of Daniel S. Burt's fascinating assessment of the 100 most influential novelists, playwrights, and poets of all times and cultures, now with 25 additional entries and some reassessments as well as 25 new black-and-white photographs and illustrations. From Doris Lessing and Gabriel García Márquez to Homer and Marcel Proust, the entries provide a compelling, accessible introduction to significant writers of world literature. All of the writers selected have helped to redefine literature, establishing a standard with which succeeding generations of writers and readers have had to contend. The ranking attempts to discern, from the broadest possible perspective, what makes a literary artist great and how that greatness can be measured and compared. Each profile distills the essence of the writer's career and character to help prompt consideration of literary merit and relationships by the reader. New writers include: Chinua Achebe W.H. Auden Bertolt Brecht Robert Frost Nikolai Gogol Seamus Heaney Heinrich Heine Horace Ben Jonson Kalidasa Doris Lessing Li Po Christopher Marlowe Arthur Miller Chikamatsu Monzaemon Toni Morrison George Orwell Harold Pinter Luigi Pirandello Samuel Richardson Rainier Maria Rilke Sappho Edmund Spenser Tennessee Williams Kawabata Yasunari.
Call Number: REF PN451 .B87 2001ISBN: 9780816062676
Magill's Survey of World Literature by
Features a combination of biography and critical analysis, covering major writers from outside the United States and their significant works in fiction, drama, poetry, and nonfiction. This title offers profiles of major authors of fiction, drama, poetry, and essays, each with sections on biography, and general analysis.
Call Number: REF PN523 .M29 2009ISBN: 9781587654312
Literature and Its Times
Information about the historical background of over 300 often-studied literary works from around the world. This five-volume set is arranged chronologically by major historical periods, offering students contexts and connections to enhance the learning experience. Entries feature: a brief introduction to the work; discussion of the work's historical setting; an overview of the events of the time that the work was written; and the work in focus. Under these headings information is divided into subtopics to help students find everything they want to know. Other contextual features include: photos and graphics; bibliography of additional sources; and text enhancements highlighting interesting historical issues related to the work.
Call Number: REF PN50 .L574 1997ISBN: 0787606065
American Ethnic Writers by
This title gives authoritative coverage of 225 ethnic writers. It not only includes the classics of African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Jewish American, and Native American novels, short stories, plays, and poetry but many new voices as well in clearly written essays.
Call Number: REF PS153.M56 A414 2009ISBN: 9781587654626
The Cambridge History of Spanish Literature by
This comprehensive history of Spanish literature brings together experts from the US, the UK, and Spain to survey the range of Spanish literature from the early Middle Ages to the present day. The "classics" of the canon of eleven centuries of Spanish literature are fully covered, but attention is also paid to lesser known writers and works. This invaluable book contains an introduction, more than fifty substantial chapters, a chronology of history, literature and art, and a comprehensive index.
Call Number: REF PQ6033 .C36 2004ISBN: 0521806186
Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 by
The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 draws together entries on all aspects of literature including authors, critics, major works, magazines, genres, schools and movements in these regions from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. With more than 200 entries written by a team of international contributors, this Encyclopedia successfully covers the popular to the esoteric. The Encyclopedia is an invaluable reference resource for those studying Latin American and/or Caribbean literature as well as being of huge interest to those following Spanish or Portuguese language courses.
Call Number: REF PQ7081.A1 E558 2004ISBN: 0415306868
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature by
Asian American literature dates back to the close of the 19th century, and during the years following World War II it significantly expanded in volume and diversity. Monumental in scope, this encyclopedia surveys Asian American literature from its origins through 2007. Included are more than 270 alphabetically arranged entries on writers, major works, significant historical events, and important terms and concepts. Thus the encyclopedia gives special attention to the historical, social, cultural, and legal contexts surrounding Asian American literature and central to the Asian American experience. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and cites works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography of essential print and electronic resources. While literature students will value this encyclopedia as a guide to writings by Asian Americans, the encyclopedia also supports the social studies curriculum by helping students use literature to learn about Asian American history and culture, as it pertains to writers from a host of Asian ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including Afghans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Iranians, Indians, Vietnamese, Hawaiians, and other Asian Pacific Islanders.
Call Number: REF PS153.A84 G74 2009ISBN: 9780313341571
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Latino Literature by Call Number: REF PS153.H56 G74 2008ISBN: 9780313339707
Notable Latino Writers by
Notable Latino Writers compiles 120 essays on great novelists, poets, playwrights and short-story writers of the Western Hemisphere who are considered Latino in the broad sense of the term.
Call Number: REF PS153.H56 N68 2006ISBN: 9781587652431
Resources by Form, Genre, and Literary Movement
The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600 by
Some of the most important authors in British poetry left their mark on literature before 1600, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, and, of course, William Shakespeare. The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry before 1600 is an encyclopedic guide to British poetry from the beginnings to the year 1600, featuring approximately 600 entries ranging in length from 300 to 2,500 words. This comprehensive new work includes extensive coverage of all the famous poems of the period, including 60 of Shakespeare's finest sonnets and all of his other non-dramatic poems. Appendixes include a general bibliography and a glossary of poetic terms. Coverage includes: Major poems, such as Beowulf, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's finest sonnets, Sidney's Astrophil and Stella, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and many more Poets, from Anglo-Saxon writers such as Alfred the Great and the Beowulf poet, to Middle English writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, to the great poets of the 16th century such as Sir Thomas Wyatt, Christopher Marlowe, and, above all, William Shakespeare Important themes, topics, and movements, such as Anglo-Saxon poetry, the alliterative revival, the Norman Conquest, and more.
Call Number: REF PR1175 .F19 2008ISBN: 9780816063604
The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry, 19th Century by
Many of the most popular British poets, the ones most taught and studied in classrooms, wrote during the 19th century. Among them were the famous romantic poets, including William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, John Keats, George Gordon Byron, and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the Victorian poets, such as Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Hardy, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The Facts On File Companion to British Poetry: 19th Century is a new encyclopedic guide to the 19th-century authors, poetry, historical places, and themes common to this literary period. This essential A-to-Z reference boasts a comprehensive and accessible format. Coverage includes: Poets, including the great romantics and Victorians, as well as Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, W.B. Yeats, and many more Major poems and books of poetry, such as "Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Important movements in poetry, such as romanticism and the Pre-Raphaelite poetry Influential journals Terms and concepts, such as sublime and negative capability.
Call Number: REF PR590 .F57 2010ISBN: 9780816058969
The Facts on File Companion to World Poetry by
The Facts On File Companion to World Poetry: 1900 to the Present is a comprehensive introduction to 20th and 21st-century world poets and their most famous, most distinctive, and most influential poems. Containing approximately 500 entries that span the globe and cover the most prominent writers from each continent and many of the world s islands, this indispensable guide is the perfect companion to poetry courses. Appendixes include a general bibliography, a list of poets by geographic region, and a list of Nobel Prize winners. Coverage includes: Poets, including Rainer Maria Rilke, Pablo Neruda, Léopold Senghor, Aimé Césaire, Derek Walcott, Anna Akhmatova, Rabindranath Tagore, Federico García Lorca, Bei Dao, and many more Major poems, such as The Poems of Dr. Zhivago, Sonnets to Orpheus, and "Ode To Walt Whitman" Important concepts and movements, such as field poetics and French rap.
Call Number: REF PN1271 .A73 2008ISBN: 0816064571
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry by
The most comprehensive reference on American poetry ever assembled, this encyclopedia includes more than 900 alphabetically arranged entries, contributed by approximately 350 scholars. Written for students and general readers, the set covers poetry from the colonial era to the present, devoting special attention to contemporary poets and their works. Multicultural in scope, the encyclopedia covers poets, genres, critics, poetic terms, and movements. Its entries range from Caribbean to Confessional Poetry, from Dada to Eco-poetics, from Gay and Lesbian Poetry to Literary Magazines, New Formalism, and more. The most comprehensive reference on American poetry ever assembled, this enormous encyclopedia includes more than 900 alphabetically arranged entries by roughly 350 scholars. Other references on poetry typically cover a particular period, or survey a limited range of authors, or they do not cover poets, and works, and techniques. This encyclopedia surpasses existing works by considering the entire range of American poetry, overviewing major and minor authors, and combining biographical and critical entries with entries on a wide range of topics. Written for students and general readers at a time when poetry is central to the curriculum, the set covers material from the colonial era to the present, devoting special attention to contemporary poets and their works. Multicultural in scope, the encyclopedia provides entries on numerous poets from diverse ethnic backgrounds. It also devotes considerable attention to women poets and to poets who are just beginning to establish their reputations. In addition, it relates American poetry to its social, historical, political, and cultural contexts. The extensive experience of the volume editors and contributors is supplemented by an advisory board of some of the world's most distinguished scholars, including: Steven Gould Axelrod; Paula Bernat Bennett; Charles Bernstein; Pattie Cowell; Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Donald Marshall; Marjorie Perloff; John Shields; Lorenzo Thomas; Robert von Hallberg; And Cheryl Lawson Walker. Among the many poets discussed are: Amos Bronson Alcott; Maya Angelou; Amiri Baraka; William Bronk; Alice Cary; Billy Collins; Stephen Crane; Countee Cullen; James Dickey; Emily Dickinson; Rita Dove; Bob Dylan; Peter Everwine; Robert Frost; Sandra Gilbert; Allen Ginsberg; Dana Gioia; Robinson Jeffers; N. Scott Momaday; And many others. In addition, the "Encyclopedia" includes entries on such topics as: African American Slave Songs; Agrarian School; Asian American Poetry; Beat Poetry; Black Arts Movement; Blues; Chicano Poetry; Digital Poetry; Ekphrastic Poetry; Epic; Ethnopoetics; Experimental Poetry and the Avant-Garde; Feminist Poetics; Light Verse; Performance Poetry; And many others. Features; Includes more than 900 alphabetically arranged entries.; Brings together the work of roughly 350 expert contributors.; Covers American poetry from the colonial era to the present.; Includes entries on major canonical poets.; Highlights the work of poets who are just beginning to establish their reputations.; Gives full attention to poets from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.; Notes the achievements of women poets.; Relates American poetry to its historical, social, political, and cultural contexts.; In addition to biographical entries, the encyclopedia includes entries on poetic genres, schools, movements, terms, periods, theories, practices, and other topics.; Includes an alphabetical list of entries.; Lists entries grouped in topical categories.; Entries cite works for further reading.; Entries are fully cross-referenced.; Provides a selected, general bibliography of broard studies of American poetry.; Includes a detailed index. Benefits; Helps students understand and appreciate the precise and creative use of language.; Assists students in using poetry to understand social, political, and cultural issues.; Develops an appreciation for the achievemen
Call Number: REF PS303 .G74 2006ISBN: 9780313323812
The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry by
This impressive volume provides over 1,500 thoroughly revised and updated entries on modern poets active from 1910 to the present day. An extensive guide to the lives of influential poets writing in English, in Britain and around the world, this companion helps to illuminate the influences,inspirations, and movements that have shaped the lives and works of our best-loved poets.First published in 1994 as the Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry in English and compiled by a team of 230 experts, including famous poets such as Blake Morrison and Andrew Motion, this edition also includes new biographical entries on more contemporary poets such as Don Paterson, AnneCarson, John Kinsella, and Leslie Marmon Silko. It also contains insightful entries by well-known peers, such as Seamus Heaney on Robert Lowell and Anne Stevenson on Sylvia Plath. The A-Z biographies are complemented by new appendices including coverage of poetry events and movements and lists of anthologies and important poetry prizes and prize-winners. In addition, many entries include details of in-depth supplementary material available online on the dedicated companionwebsite. This superb reference work is the ideal companion for students of English Literature, Language, and Creative Writing, as well as for anyone with an interest in modern poetry.
Call Number: PR601 .O9 2013xISBN: 9780199640256
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics by
Through three editions over more than four decades, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has built an unrivaled reputation as the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for students, scholars, and poets on all aspects of its subject: history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more. Now this landmark work has been thoroughly revised and updated for the twenty-first century. Compiled by an entirely new team of editors, the fourth edition--the 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 At well over a million words and more than 1,000 entries, the Encyclopedia has unparalleled breadth and depth. Entries range in length from brief paragraphs to major essays of 15,000 words, offering a more thorough treatment--including expert synthesis and indispensable bibliographies--than conventional handbooks or dictionaries. This is a book that no reader or writer of poetry will want to be without. Thoroughly revised and updated by a new editorial team for twenty-first-century students, scholars, and poets More than 250 new entries cover recent terms, movements, and related topics Broader international coverage includes articles on the poetries of more than 110 nations, regions, and languages Expanded coverage of poetries of the non-Western and developing worlds Updated bibliographies and cross-references New, easier-to-use page design Fully indexed for the first time
Call Number: REF PN1021 .N39 2012ISBN: 9780691154916
The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama by
A wholly unique A to Z reference for modern drama, this authoritative encyclopedia differs from others in highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of drama by placing playwrights and plays within their social, cultural, and historical contexts. Over 450 leading scholars provide students, general readers, and scholars with clearly written and concise entries that steer clear of technical jargon while also offering advanced readers new perspectives on familiar figures, movements, trends, issues, and texts. The Encyclopedia concentrates on drama in the literary sense rather than as performance. The scope of this encyclopedia is truly global. The editors follow the development of modern theater in both Western Europe (England, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Ireland, France, Spain) and Eastern Europe; in Russia, China, Japan, India, and all of Southeast Asia; in Australia and New Zealand; in the United States and Canada; in Latin America, Africa, and in the Yiddish language. Entries are at least 500 words, richly researched and innovatively written. In "Brecht" the playwright's central themes and theories on theater are contextualized within the story of his exile, which paints a larger portrait of the cultural and political state of Europe at the time. In "Spain" the stories of certain theaters and prominent playwrights, such as Federico Garcia Lorca, are woven within the history of the country itself. And a colorful look at "Off Broadway" emphasizes the importance of theater economics and reveals its influence in shaping the development of drama. The history of modern drama is quickly becoming a popular area of study. The Encyclopedia of Modern Drama is a comprehensive and original approach to understanding this history and a powerful tool in reinforcing the vital role of drama in the intellectual and artistic life of the last 150 years.
Call Number: REF PN1861 .V65 2007ISBN: 0231140320
Critical Survey of Drama by
Of the revised edition's 538 profiles of individual dramatists, 79 are completely new essays--mostly on playwrights who have recently come to be regarded as established figures in the theater. In addition to the entirely new author profiles, more than 88 profiles have been updated and revised to include the authors' new works and achievements, as well as developments in their personal lives. The bibliographies in these and all other author profiles have been updated and annotated. Besides listing new productions and publications and honors and awards, these essays provide analyses of significant new works.
Call Number: REF PN1625 .C68 2003ISBN: 1587651025
The Drama 100 by
Which plays are truly great, and why? Compiled in consultation with literary scholars, this fascinating reference profiles 100 of the greatest plays drawn from all cultures and periods of literature. The Drama 100 is sure to engage students and theatergoers in a spirited discussion of literary values. Each entry provides a plot summary and assessment, with an emphasis on details about the play's creation, critical reception, and contribution to literary and theatrical history. Additional features include a chronology, a list of honorable mentions ("A Second Hundred"), and an index. Among the works selected are: Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine Henrik Ibsen's A Doll s House Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun William Shakespeare's King Lear Sophocles' Oedipus the King August Wilson's Fences Tang Xianzu's The Peony Pavilion and many more.
Call Number: REF PN1721 .B87 2008ISBN: 0816060738
Historical Dictionary of British Theatre by
British theatre has a greater tradition than any other, having started all the way back in 1311 and still going strong today. But that is too much for one book to cover, so this volume deals with early theatre and has a cut-off date in 1899. Still, this is almost six centuries, centuries during which British theatre not only developed but produced some of the greatest playwrights of all time and anywhere, including obviously Shakespeare but also Marlowe and Shaw. And they wrote some of the finest plays ever, which are known around the world. So there is plenty for this book to cover, just with the playwrights, plays and actors, but it also has information on stagecraft and theatres, as well as the historical and political background. This book has over 1,183 entries in the dictionary section, these being mainly on playwrights and plays, but others as well including managers and critics, and also on specific theatres, legislative acts and some technical jargon. Then there are entries on the different genres, from comedy to tragedy and everything in between. Inevitably, the chronology is quite long as it has a long period to cover and the introduction provides the necessary overview. The Historical Dictionary of Early British Theatre concludes with a pretty massive bibliography. That will be of use to particularly assiduous researchers, but this book itself is a good place to start any research since it covers periods that are far less well-known and documented, and ordinary theatre-goers will also find useful information.
Call Number: REF PN2581 .G73 2013ISBN: 9780810867628
Masterplots II, Drama Series by
This work covers 345 works of drama, including 92 plays new to this edition. It covers many plays by 20th century playwrights, such as Samuel Beckett, Noel Coward, Eugene Ionesco, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, John Osborne, George Bernard Shaw, Neil Simon, and Tennessee Williams.
Call Number: REF PN6112.5 .M37 2003ISBN: 1587651165
Notable Playwrights by
Collection of 106 essays on playwrights ranging from ancient Greeks and Romans to contemporary dramatists taken from Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition. Each essay lists the playwright's principal dramatic works and other writings and has sections on the playwright's writings in other forms, and life.
Call Number: REF PN1625 .N68 2005ISBN: 1587651955
The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance by
The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance is based on the celebrated Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance, and covers styles and movements, buildings, organizations, regions and traditions; it has a particularly strong focus on biographies of actors, playwrights, directors, and designers. New entries cover the people and companies who have come into prominence since the publication of the Encyclopedia. The Companion includes all the most popular and accessible information from the Encyclopedia, concentrating primarily on the personalities involved in producing threatre, as well as overviews of the genres within which they work. It has 2,400 entries presented in a far more compact and portable format. The timeline of historical and cultural events in the world of theatre and performance has been significantly updated, along with the extensive bibliography, and an appendix of useful weblinks has been added, which is supported and accessible through a companion website. The Companion provides an informative and accessible package aimed at both the theatre-going public as at specialists and professionals in the field.
Call Number: PN2035 O94 2010ISBN: 9780199574193
The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story by
"A handy volume that presents an immediate introduction to American short fiction from the 19th century to the 1990s, the 675 alphabetically arranged entries consist of author biographies, literary terms, theories, themes, well-known characters, influential events, and summaries of major stories. Entries are definitive and written in a clear style."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2001.
Call Number: REF PS374.S5 F33 2000ISBN: 0816031649
Masterplots II, Short Story Series by
Reference materials on short stories for teachers and libraries. This edition incorporates all the articles from the original six-volume set and four-volume supplement and adds 250 essays. It is organized in the standard Masterplots form, with articles aranged alphabetically by story title.
Call Number: REF PN3326 .M27 2004ISBN: 1587651408
The Encyclopedia of the Novel by
An advanced reference resource featuring nearly 150 contributors and over 500,000 words, The Encyclopedia of the Novel provides authoritative accounts of the history, terminology, genre, and theory of the novel. The entries in this encyclopedia are written by an international cast of scholars and overseen by an advisory board of 37 leading specialists in the field. Arranged in A-Z format across two fully indexed and meticulously cross-referenced volumes, the entries explore the history and tradition of the novel in different areas of the world; formal elements of the novel (such as narrative structure, plot, character, and narrative perspective); technical aspects of the genre (such as realism, dialogue, and style); subgenres, including the bildungsroman and the graphic novel; theoretical problems; book history; and the relationship of the novel to other arts and disciplines.
Call Number: PN41 .E485 2011 (Delivery Desk)ISBN: 9781405161848
Feminism in Literature by
This six-volume set, the latest offering from the Gale Critical Companion Collection, explores the history of women and feminism throughout literature, from classical antiquity to modern times. 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, modern feminist theory, criticism and scholarship and much more. Also included are detailed studies of prominent women writers, including Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Adrienne Rich and many others. Three indexes - author, title and subject - help researchers find information across the set, making it easy to make connections and find related details. Feminism in Literature is the third set in the new Gale Critical Companion Collection which is designed to complement and extend the existing Literary Criticism Series. in literature and the humanities designed to meet the research needs of high school and undergraduate students.
Call Number: REF PN471 .F43 2005ISBN: 9780787675738
Feminist Writings from Ancient Times to the Modern World by
From writings by Enheduana in ancient Mesopotamia (2350 BCE) to the present-day manifesto of the Association of Women for Action and Research in Singapore, Feminist Writings from Ancient Times to the Modern World: A Global Sourcebook and History excerpts more than 200 feminist primary source documents from Africa to the Americas to Australia.
Call Number: REF PN56.F46 F47 2011ISBN: 9780313345807
Literary Movements for Students
"Literary Movements for Students is designed to meet the needs of students and researchers studying literary movements and the specific works representative of various movements. Entries provide in-depth historical background information on each movement as well as modern critical interpretation of each movement's characteristic styles and themes. Approximately 25 movements are covered, including absurdism, Greek drama, modernism, science fiction/fantasy, surrealism and many others.
Call Number: REF PN597 .L58 2002ISBN: 0787665177- The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism has become the indispensable resource for scholars and students of literary theory and discourse. The long-awaited second edition includes 48 new entries and subentries and has been revised throughout, taking account of ten years of rapidly changing scholarship. While concentrating on the explosion of contemporary critical and theoretical works, the Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of ideas and individuals ranging from Plato and Aristotle to twentieth-century scholars. It includes more than 240 alphabetically arranged entries on critics and theorists, critical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. It also examines developments in other disciplines which have shaped literary theory and criticism. An international, encyclopedic guide to the field's most important figures, schools, and movements, the new edition reflects the state of literary theory and criticism.
Call Number: REF PN81 .J554 2005ISBN: 0801880106
