Getting Started
Literary Criticism is the term for writing that studies, evaluates, discusses, and interprets works of literature. Criticism may also indicate a theoretical approach to interpreting the work, such as new criticism, deconstruction, new historicism, queer theory, reader response or structuralism.
Researching literary criticism may require finding information on a specific theory, in which case encyclopedias or dictionaries of literary terms may be helpful starting points. For a literary critique of a work, scholarly articles and book chapters are more appropriate than general web sources. Try searching databases and the library catalog using keywords such as the name of the theory or the name of a literary work.
Databases for Literary Criticism
- MLA International BibliographyMLA is the most complete and important source of citations to journal articles, book chapters and books covering all topics in literature and literary criticism in all languages. Use it to research specific authors, works, and literary theory, as well as film, theater and performance. Because MLA is in the familiar EBSCO interface, it can be searched alongside other useful databases like Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text and Humanities International Complete.
- Literary Reference Center Plus (EBSCO)LRC Plus is an EBSCO database that is similar to Literature Resource Center (above). It contains detailed information on the most-studied authors and their works, including plot summaries, literary criticism, authors' biographies, articles from literary journals, and book reviews. It is a good place to look for information after using MLA and Literature Resource Center.
- JSTORJSTOR contains over a thousand full-text scholarly journals covering all subjects in the humanities, sciences and social sciences, and is one of our most popular databases for humanities topics, including literature. This database searches the full text of its holdings for search terms, so some results will be off-topic - it's good to use the limiters to narrow searches down. Due to its focus on storage, JSTOR contains older volumes of journals, generally at least 3 to 5 years old.
- Project MUSE - Standard CollectionContains the full text of over 400 high-quality journals from scholarly publishers in the arts, social sciences, and humanities, including literature, linguistics, music, philosophy and religion. Project MUSE is especially strong for topics related to theater.
Reference Books
Selected Literary Criticism reference books available on the first floor of Jerome Library.
A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory by Call Number: PN44.5 .H37 1998ISBN: 9780340692219Publication Date: 1998Glossary of terms associated with literary theory that aims to map word usage.
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by Call Number: REF PN81 .J554 2005ISBN: 9780801880100Publication Date: 2004Concentrates on contemporary critical and theoretical works and includes a comprehensive historical survey of ideas and individuals ranging from Plato and Aristotle to twentieth-century scholars.
A Handbook to Literature by Call Number: REF PN41 .H355 2009ISBN: 9780136014393Publication Date: 2008-03-1211th edition. Provides an alphabetical listing of important terms and facts in literature, including linguistics, rhetoric, criticism and information technology.
Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature by Call Number: PS153.M56 G74 2005ISBN: 031333059XPublication Date: 2005Interprets ethnicity widely, from Amish American to Vietnamese American writers. Entries on writers, works, genres, and subtopics relating to ethicity and literature.
Critical Survey of Poetry by Call Number: REF PN1021 .C7 2003ISBN: 1587650711Publication Date: 2002Provides biographies, analyses, and bibliographies for 698 poets. Also included are critical essays on broad subjects, such as "Native American Poetry," "Feminist Criticism," etc. Coverage is worldwide and begins in the 13th century. 8 volumes.
Black Literature Criticism by Call Number: PS153.N5 B556 1992ISBN: 9780810379299Publication Date: 1991Presents a broad selection of the best criticism of works by major black writers of the past two hundred years. Each entry gives a historical survey of critical response to the author's works. 3 volumes. The 1999 supplement is also available.
Asian American Literature by Call Number: PS153.A84 A82 1999ISBN: 9780787602963Publication Date: 1998Profiles selected authors of Asian descent living in the US; includes biographical information and criticism, with a reference guide to further information.
Selected journals for literature & criticism
English Language Notes
PMLA
Modern Language Review
Covers special topics in literary and cultural studies, particularly interdisciplinary work. Full text of English Language Notes is available online. Also in print at Jerome Library.
A core title in literature, publishing scholarly essays on language and literature. Full text of PMLA is available online. Also in print at Jerome Library.
Scholarship on European and Latin American languages, literatures and cultures. Full text of Modern Language Review is available online in JSTOR (1905-present).
Nineteenth Century Literature
Review of Contemporary Fiction
Speculum
Publishes research concerning English and American 19th century authors. Full text of 19th Century Literature is available in JSTOR (to 2015). Full text for current issues of 19th Century Literature is available from the University of California Press online.
Critical essays on unconventional and overlooked writers of contemporary fiction. Full text for Review of Contemporary Fiction is available in EBSCO. Also in print at Jerome Library.
A journal of medieval studies publishing scholarly research on all aspects of the Middle Ages. Full text for Speculum is available online.
Do You Know Masterplots?
The Masterplots Series contain concise plot synopses, critical commentary, character profiles, literary settings and biographical profiles. Masterplots articles provide referential information about sources, and discussion of significant aspects of the work’s artistry and history. A bibliography provides annotated citations to the best English-language sources for further research about the book.
Shorter than Cliff Notes, Masterplots are an excellent starting point to refresh one’s memory about a previously read book or a life of a previously studied author, and the guide for students needing to review a term’s worth of literary study.
Masterplots II, African American Literature by Call Number: PS153.N5 M2645 1994ISBN: 9780893565947Publication Date: 1994
Masterplots II, American Fiction Series by Call Number: PS373 .M37 2000ISBN: 9780893568719Publication Date: 2000
Masterplots II, British and Commonwealth Fiction Series by Call Number: PR881.M39 1987ISBN: 9780893564681Publication Date: 1987
Masterplots II, Drama Series by Call Number: PN1655 .M2 2004ISBN: 9781587651168Publication Date: 2003
Masterplots II, Poetry Series by Call Number: PN1110.5 .M37 2002ISBN: 9781587650376Publication Date: 2002
Masterplots II, Short Story Series by Call Number: PN3326 .M27 2004ISBN: 9781587651403Publication Date: 2004
Reference E-books
- Oxford Digital Reference ShelfFull-text reference works from Oxford University Press covering a broad range of subjects, and including timelines, quotations, and overviews.
- Oxford Research EncyclopediasFull-text encyclopedias on a range of topics that include in-depth, peer-reviewed summaries written by scholars across all fields of study.
- OhioLINK Electronic Book Center (EBC)The EBC Scholarly & Reference Collection contains over 60,000 books published by ABC-CLIO, Gale, Oxford University Press, Sage and Springer. They cover all subjects and include encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks.
Selected Websites
- Modern American Poetry Site (MAPS)A scholarly, comprehensive site created by the Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, filled with commentary and criticism on many poems and poets.
- Web del SolCompiles literature and literary journals online.
- NINES: 19th Century Scholarship OnlineAn organization dedicated to forging links between the material archive of the nineteenth century and the digital research environment of the twenty-first. Includes tools and digital workspace.
- SparkNotesFree online study guides providing context, themes and motifs, overviews and chapter summaries for major works.