University of Louisville Libraries

Literature & Languages Guide: Literary Criticism

To help you find literary criticism, use the following questions as a guide:

1. Do you need to know what literary criticism is?
2. How much information do you need?

A few pages (enough for a short paper)
A lot! (enough for a term paper)

If you just need a few pages, or a starting place, use the questions below to find sources based on the author or the work.

I don't know the answers to any of these questions--where are the most general sources?
What time period is your author from? (Classical to 1300, Enlightenment 1400-1800, 19th Century, 20th Century)
Does your author belong to a particular group? (African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Women.)
What's the genre of the work? (Poetry, Short stories, Novel, Essay, etc.)
Do you need background material on the time period or symbolism used in the work?

What Is Literary Criticism?

Critical Reading: An Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism

modern, postmodern, and cultural

Literary Criticism: An Overiew of Approaches

Short descriptions with examples

Introduction to Modern Literary Theory

In-depth essays about different schools of literary theory.

Broad Theoretical Paradigms

Postmodern theory in general, not just for literature

Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. BH39 .C62 1995

Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory
EKSTROM Ref. PN 44.5 .H37 1998

General Sources

Dictionary of Literary Biography
EKSTROM Ref. PN451.D5 (across from Biography Wall)

These volumes are organized around a topic, period, or genre and they include information regarding an author's life with regard to his/her writing and how his/her work is perceived by critics along with general themes within the work. Major and secondary writers from most historical periods are covered and many entries contain a picture of the author. Use index in last volume to look up a specific author.

Internet Public Library: Literary Criticism

"The IPL Literary Criticism Collection contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period". Librarian's Note: There is some valuable information here, but also be aware that what is available for different authors varies greatly in quanitity, quality, and comprehensiveness. It may actually be faster to come in to the library and browse through some of the books sources listed on this page.

Magill's Bibliography of Literary Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. Z 6511 .M25

Alphabetical by author and then by work. Covers 613 authors and over 2500 works. Lists articles and books. Good starting point for fairly famous authors.

Magill's Critical Survey of . . .
EKSTROM Ref. Desk, various call numbers

These are divided into series such as drama, poetry, long fiction, literary theory, short fiction, and foreign language fiction. Within each series, they are ordered alphabetically by author and they contain a short biography of the author's life and an analysis of the author's work, usually 3-5 pages long.

Criticism by Time Period

Classical & Medieval Literature Criticism (Classical Antiquity to 1300)
EKSTROM Ref. PN 610 .C53

"The critical excerpts span from the "first appraisals to current evaluations."

Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800
EKSTROM Ref. PN 86 .L56 (Index Table 11)

Excerpts of criticism of the works of Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth-Century novelists, poets, playwrights, philosophers, and other creative writers.

Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. PN 761 .N56 (Index Table 12)

"Excerpts from criticism of the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and other creative writers who lived between 1800 and 1900 from the first published critical appraisals to current evaluations."

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. PN 771 .T84 (Index Table 12)

This set contains excerpts of criticism of the works of fiction authors who died between 1900 and 1960 (see Contemporary Literary Criticism for post 1960). Many nationalities are represented and the criticism excerpted is intended to be a fairly comprehensive overview.

Criticism by Ethnic or Underrepresented Group

Black Literature Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. PS 153 .N5 B556 (Index Table 13)

"Excerpts from criticism of the most significant works of Black authors over the past 200 years."

Contemporary Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature in English

Includes lists of authors from Africa, Asia (parts of), Australia, Canada, Ireland, etc. their works, and some criticism.

Hispanic Literature Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. PQ 7081 .A1 H573 1994 (Index Table 13)

Covers major Hispanic writers of the past 100 years. Includes brief biographical essays and chronological critical commentary of their works.

Native North American Literature
EKSTROM Ref. PS 508 .I5 N38 1994 (Index Table 12)

This work excerpts criticism of the works of both oral and written Native American literatures (including the United States and Canada) from historical times to the present.

Modern Women Writers (A Library of Literary Criticism)
EKSTROM Ref. PN 471 .M62 1996

Includes excerpts of criticism of the work of international women writers.

Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Color

Biographical and critical information about North American women writers of color.

Criticism by Genre

Poetry Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. PN 1010 .P499 (Index Table 13)

This series includes short biographical sketches of poets from all nationalities, time periods, and traditions. Its primary purpose, however, is to excerpt, in chronological order, the most significant pieces of criticism of a poet's work.

Short Story Criticism
EKSTROM Ref. PN 3373 .S56 (Index Table 13)

This set has extensive excerpts from criticism about short fiction writers of many nationalities and time periods (Guy de Maupassant to John Cheever as an example.) All entries start with a biographical sketch and then chronologically organize the critical excerpts from well-known as well as more obscure critics.

Background information on Time Periods and Symbolism

Literature and Its Times : Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them
EKSTROM Ref. PN 50 .L574 1997

Combines a discussion of the history of the period with information about the literary work to help students understand the cultural context of the work. There is also a set for World Literature and Its Times in the same call number area.

American Decades
Ekstrom Ref. E 169.12 .A419 1994

Each volume covers a decade of American history and is organized by subject (education, politics, performing arts, etc.) For pre-1900, see American Eras.

Great Events from History...
Ekstrom Ref. varies

Short overviews of historical events.There are several of these sets ranging from American history to 20th century world history, great events of science, etc.

New Cambridge Modern History
Ekstrom Ref. D 208 .N4

Scholarly essays on historical periods.

A Dictionary of Symbolism

Common literary symbols and their connotations.

A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
EKSTROM Ref. PN 56 .S9 F47 1999

The Facts on File Dictionary of Classical & Biblical Allusions
EKSTROM Ref. PN43 .F16 2003

Oxford Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
EKSTROM Ref. PN43 .O94 2000

Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

Brewer's 1898 Dictionary can be helpful for locating meaning and origin of phrase and fable.

Sources for In-depth Criticism

For whole books on an author, use Minerva the Libraries' Catalog.

Type the authors last name and then first name if you know it.
In the Find Results in box, choose Subject.

In the results list,

look for the particular author's work you are interested in, or
more generally, the subject "criticism and interpretation" or even
a bibliography which is a book-length listing of sources about an author

You can also look for articles in the Libraries' online databases that index literary journals: MLA, Humanities Index, JSTOR, and Project Muse are particularly good. These databases are all available from the Literature & Languages Guide.

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