French/Francophone Literature
The printed materials listed here are all owned by the Binghamton University Libraries and the BU call number is provided. Please note that they represent just a very small sampling of the resources that are actually available. Researchers can locate other relevant materials by using InfoLINK, the Libraries' online catalog. See the "Finding Books" section of Research Basics for tips on using InfoLINK.
Short Answers, Introductions, & Overviews
The following resources are good places to begin your research. They contain articles on authors, works, movements, etc, and often include brief bibliographies, i.e., a list of other materials, at the end of each entry: Examples include:
Dictionnaire Bordas de littérature
française. Bordas, 1994. REF PQ 41 L45 1994
Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française.
Bordas, 1994. REF PQ 41 D54 1994
Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française.
Bordas, 1994. REF PQ 41 B42 1994
Nouveau dictionnaire des oeuvres: de tous les temps et de tous les
pays. Laffont, 1994. AG 25 N73 1994
Nouveau dictionnaire des auteurs: de tous les temps et de tous les
pays. Laffont, 1994. REF PN 456 N68 1994
Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. Routledge, 1998. REF B51
R68 1998
Dictionary of the history of ideas. Scribner, 1973. REF CB 5 D52
And, the Literature Resource Center database is the electronic version of such print standbys as Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and the many volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography. The coverage of foreign language literature is adequate, especially for older works and prolific authors.
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In-Depth/Historical Research
Bibliographies
A resource called a bibliography is an extensive listing of major publications, both entire books and journal articles, in the field. Lower division courses may not require the use of these resources, but upper division students should at least be familiar with them. Examples include:
The first five titles here are "closed"; that is, no longer being added to but still useful for older research that is not covered by the electronic databases.
Critical bibliography of French
literature (Cabeen). Syracuse University Press, 1947--.
REF Z 2171 C3
Manuel bibliographique de la littérature française
du moyen âge. Librairie d"Argences, 1949-53; 1954-
60; 1961-80.
REF Z 2172 B7.
Bibliographie de la littérature française du seizième
siècle. (Cioranescu) Editions du Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, 1959. REF PQ 231 C56
Bibliographie de la littérature française du dix-septiéme
siécle. (Cioranescu) Editions du Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique , 1965-67. REF PQ 241 C56
Bibliographie de la littérature française du dix-huitiéme
siécle. (Cioranescu) Editions du Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, 1969. REF PQ 261 C56
The next three titles are on-going publications.
French XX bibliography.
French Institute-Alliance Française, 1949--. REF Z 2173
F7
Bibliographie der französischen Literaturwissenschaft. Klostermann,
1960--. PQ 105 K55
Year's work in modern language studies. Modern Humanities Research
Association, 19--. REF PB 1 Y39
Electronic Resources
Most electronic resources cover relatively recent material, primarily journal articles, and often going back only to the mid-1980's. The following two databases, however, do provide coverage of older literature.
JSTOR contains full text of many academic journals going back to their first volumes, e.g., French Review (1927-1997). Hispania (1917-1998), and Italica (1926-1998). Because of the pdf formatting, material can be printed but not e-mailed.
Periodicals Contents Index (PCI) is not full-text but through the Libraries' Get it@BU software, can link to our other databases which are full-text. Like JSTOR, it covers journals back to their first volumes, some as far back as 1770.
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Finding Articles Using Journal Indexes
For a general listing of indexes that are most relevant for research in language and literature, go to the Romance Languages page (listed under "Subject Resources" on the Libraries' home page.
Some of these resources have already been mentioned, but there are others that would be most useful for you. First and foremost is the Modern Language Association International Bibliography, the most comprehensive listing of research on language and literature. This database goes back to 1963 and includes books, chapters in books, journal articles and doctoral dissertations. It is not full-text but also uses the Get it@BU software to link to our other databases that are full-text.
Some Special Topics in French Literature
While most of the printed resources listed below are not "reference" materials, most of them includes bibliographies or lists of additional works that lead you to other research.
Women
Feminist encyclopedia of French
literature. Greenwood, 1999. REF PQ 149 F47 1999
French women writers: A bio-bibliographical source book. Greenwood,
1991. PQ 149 F73
Dictionnaire des oeuvres érotiques: domaine français.
Mercure de France, 1971. REF PQ 145.1 E65 D5
Dictionnaire littéraire des femmes de langue française:
de Marie de France a Marie NDiaye. Karthala, 1996.
REF PQ 149 M25 1996
Damned women : lesbians in French novels, 1796-1996, McGill-Queen's
University Press, 2000. PQ 637 H65 W35 2000
French feminist criticism : women, language,
and literature : an annotated bibliography, Garland, 1985. HQ 1386
G44 1985
Women's studies encyclopedia. Greenwood Press, 1999. REF HQ 1115
W645 1999
The Celebration of Women Writers web site provides links to resources, accessible by country, name, century and ethnicity!
And Cybergrrl® Inc. provides Femina, an excellent gateway site to thousands of links related to women.
Mythology
Man, myth & magic; the illustrated
encyclopedia of mythology, religion and the unknown.
Marshall Cavendish, 1997.
REF BF 1407 M34 1997
Dictionnaire des mythologies et des religions des sociétés
traditionelles et du monde antique. [English]. University
of Chicago Press, 1991. REF BL 311 D513 1991.
The Encyclopedia Mythica is an excellent and very rich web site that covers mythology and folklore from all over the world.
MythWeb is a site oriented to teachers and students, good for basic information.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art has a fascinating site devoted to world myths and legends in art that explores the visual imagery of myth.
Genres
Nouvelle bibliographie du roman épistolaire
en France : des origines à 1842, 2e éd.
entièrement rév. et augm. Editions universitaires,
1995. PQ 637 E6 G7 1995
Nineteenth-century French fiction writers : naturalism
and beyond, 1860-1900, Gale, 1992. REF PN 501 D54 v. 123
Nineteenth century French fiction writers : romanticism
and realism, 1800-1860. Gale, 1992. REF PN 501
D54 v. 119
French dramatists, 1789-1914,
Gale, 1998. REF PN 501 D54 v. 192
Répertoire du théâtre contemporain
de langue française, Nathan, 2000. PQ
556 C635 2000
Théâtre noir : encyclopédie des pièces écrites
en français par des auteurs noirs, Three Continents Press,
1988. PQ 3983 W38 1988.
Modern French poets, Gale,
2002. REF PN 501 D54 v. 258
Nineteenth-century French poets, Gale, 2000. REF PN 501 D54 v.
217
La poésie antillaise d'expression créole de 1960 à nos
jours : essai d'analyse socioculturelle, L'Harmattan,
1998. PQ 3942 R66 1998
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Electronic Texts
There are numerous sites that contain full texts of literary works in the public domain. Try the following:
Old French on the Web has useful information, but covers literature only up to 1400.
Athena, based in Switzerland, is one of the most extensive listings and links to available texts, on its own site and on other sites as well.
ABU: la Bibliothèque Universelle includes software that allows you to search for a word or phrase in the available text.