Literary Criticism

Books & Media | Magazines & Journals | Indexes & Databases | Newspapers | Web Sites

Literary criticism is the analysis, study and evaluation of an individual work, or group of works. A critical review describes and evaluates a work in terms of its style, form, plot, and theme. It may also compare the book with similar works, or to other books written by the same author.

BOOKS & MEDIA

Locate books, videos, CD's and other media programs about literary criticism in the online public access catalog (OPAC) by Author, Title, Subject, or keyword in title & topic. For books or programs about a specific author and/or for literary criticism of their works, use the author's last name as the SUBJECT. You may also look under the appropriate subject heading used for that particular genre or category, with the subheading "-- HISTORY AND CRITICISM."

If you want to browse the book collection for these topics, the basic call number for general works about literature will have call numbers that begin with PN. You will find many literary criticism series under this call number in the reference area. The call numbers assigned to certain types of literature may begin differently (e.g. African literature -- PL, or American literature -- PS).

The SUBJECT HEADINGS listed below are only a few of those that you can use in the OPAC:

AMERICAN FICTION -- HISTORY AND CRITICISM

AMERICAN LITERATURE -- AFRO-AMERICAN AUTHORS -- HISTORY & CRITICISM

AMERICAN LITERATURE -- ASIAN AMERICAN AUTHORS -- HISTORY & CRITICISM

AMERICAN LITERATURE -- HISTORY AND CRITICISM

AMERICAN LITERATURE -- MEXICAN AMERICAN AUTHORS -- HISTORY & CRITICISM

ENGLISH LITERATURE -- HISTORY AND CRITICISM

LITERATURE, MODERN -- 19TH CENTURY -- HISTORY AND CRITICISM

SPANISH LITERATURE -- HISTORY AND CRITICISM

SELECTED REFERENCE BOOKS

For quick-reference information and/or a concise overview of a literary style or movement, you may want to use reference materials that focus specifically on literature and writers.

Asian American Literature
PS 153 A84 A82 Ref

Black Literature Criticism
PS 153 N5 B556 1992 Ref

Contemporary Authors (various series)
PN 771 E8 Ref

Contemporary Literary Criticism
PN 771 C59 Ref

Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century
PN 774 L433 Ref

Gay & Lesbian Literature
PN 56 H57 G36 1993 Ref

Latin American Writers
PQ 7081 A1 L37 Ref

Modern American Literature
PS 221 C8 1969 Ref

Modern American Women Writers
PS 151 M521 1990 Ref

Modern Latin American Literature
PQ 7081 F63 1975 Ref

Poetry Criticism
PN 1010 P499 Ref

Contemporary Literary Criticism is one of the best places to start searching for information about authors living from 1960 to the present. In addition to well-known writers, it includes some writers about whose work criticism is hard to locate.

The index in each volume covers all previous volumes in addition to the one in hand.

Each index entry also cross-references the user to information about that writer included in other biographical and literary series published by the same company.

There are separate author, topic and nationality cross reference indexes.

In each volume, the entries are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name. The information provided in each entry includes:

	biographical information
	photograph of author
	brief discussion of major works
	list of principal works
	excerpts of literary reviews and critical essays (with citations for their full versions)
	excerpts from one of the author's works (does not appear in earlier volumes)
	excerpts of interviews with the author (does not appear in earlier volumes)

MAGAZINES & JOURNALS

Book reviews in magazines and journals are another source of evaluative information about a book. You can use most any periodical or newspaper index to look for book reviews.

Current Print Subscriptions

The current issues of the magazines and journals that the CCC Library receives are on the display racks near the Information Commons. See the Periodical Holdings list for additional titles.

The most current issues may be used in the Library only. Older issues may be checked out of the Library. Lift the tilted display shelf to find the issue from the previous 6 -12 months. If you want issues older than those available here, you will need to fill out a Periodical Request slip at the Circulation Desk.

Bound Periodicals

Many older magazines and journals were bound in hard covers for preservation. They are kept on the low shelves at the far end of the Library, next to Stack #28. These volumes may be used in the Library only.

Magazine & Journal Indexes & Databases

Use a periodical index to locate specific articles in older issues of magazines and journals. The CCC Library has both print and computerized indexes. Printed indexes list articles by Author and/or Subject. The Library's computerized indexes are databases that also contain the full-text of the majority of their citations; they can be searched by Author, Title, Subject and Keyword. Ask the librarian at the Reference Desk for assistance with subject headings for your research topic and/or for help in using the computerized databases as needed.

Some of the indexes and databases that might be most useful in researching book reviews, author information and other literature-related topics are:

Biography Resource Center (online database available via the Library's Database page)

Books in Print (online database of titles in print, forthcoming, or out-of-print, some reviews -- available via the Library's Database page)

Book Review Digest (printed index on Index Table #10)

Book Review Index (printed index on Index Table #10)

Expanded Academic Index ASAP (online database available via the Library's Database page)

Finding Book Reviews in Printed Indexes: The Library's printed indexes are issued in annual hardbound volumes. In order to use them effectively, you will need to know three items of information: the author's name, the title of the book, and the year of publication.

	Start by searching the entries alphabetically by the author's last name.
	Some indexes may also have a subject heading: BOOK REVIEWS, under which entries will be listed alphabetically by author's last name or by the book title.
	If you know the title, but not the author, or visa-versa, most of these guides do have an author-title cross-reference index.
	The publication date is important. Always check the year of publication as well as the previous and following years, as reviews are often published well before or after a book's "official" publication date.
	Copy down the complete citation, so that you have all the information you need to locate the full review.

NEWSPAPERS

The Library subscribes to several newspapers, including The San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times. The current issues are in the hanging rack at the end of the Periodicals Display Rack.

Older issues are available on microfilm and/or CD-ROM. The printed indexes to these newspapers are on Index Table #9a. Use the computers in the Information Commons to index the New York Times CD-ROM. Ask a librarian to show you how to use the newspaper indexes, and how to operate the microfilm reader/printer machines.

INTERNET / WEB SITES

There are many sites on the Internet where you can information about literature and writers. Use a search engine to help you locate them. Some search engines also provide an directory of sites arranged by broad subject area. These lists are usually broken down into even more specific aspects of a topic. They are great places to browse for interesting sites.

For a list of Internet sites about this subject area that have been reviewed by faculty and/or librarians, see the CCC Site Guide for Literature.

Last updated 27 November 2007

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