How to Find Literary Criticism
How to Find Literary Criticism
How to Find Criticism of an Author's Work
- Criticism in Books - Using the Novanet Catalogue
- Criticism in Journal Articles - Using the Journal Databases
- Reference Sources
- Selected Web Resources
Literary criticism is the discussion and analysis of literary works – novels, plays, poems, and short stories, etc. Criticism may look at an author’s particular work (e.g., Shakespeare’s Hamlet), or may look at an author’s body of work as a whole (e.g., Shakespeare’s plays), or it may may compare and contrast works by different authors from the same literary period or from different historical periods and literary traditions. Literary criticism typically focuses on one or more aspects of the text(s) such as theme, style, genre, structure, and so forth, or it may discuss the work's relationship its historical and cultural period, such as the representation of gender, society, and culture, politics, use of language, etc.
Literary criticism can appear in different formats, including:
- an article in a scholarly journal
- an article or essay in a reference book
- a chapter in a book
- an entire book
How does Literary Criticism differ from a Book Review?
Although book reviews and literary criticism are similar in many ways, they do differ from each other. Book reviews describe and often evaluate a book; they can range in length from a few sentences to several pages. Even though many book reviews will be critical and analytical, they are not considered literary criticism. Literary criticism is generally written by scholars, and contains more in-depth analysis and evaluation than a book review.
How to Find Criticism of an Author’s Work
Criticism in Books – Using the Novanet Catalogue:
Use the Library’s catalogue, Novanet, to find books about an author’s work. To do this, simply search the author as a SUBJECT as illustrated in the following example.
(Note: searching the author as a subject finds books written about the author. To find books written by the author, you would search for them using the Authors (last name first) browse search option).
Example:
In the Browse an alphabetical list box, search the author as a Subject by entering the author’s surname, followed by first name or initial.
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Scroll through the list of subject headings until you find the author’s name and dates, along with the subheading Criticism and interpretation. Click on the link to see a list of available books.
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If you want to be more specific, you can scan through the list of subject headings and find literary criticism on a particular work:
This heading shows that there are 12 items listed in the catalogue that discuss the novel To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
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The following subheadings may be useful too:
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 – Bibliographies
(Bibliographies list books and articles that discuss an author’s works)
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 – Characters
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 – Literary style
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 – Technique
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 – Influence on
(Influence on – this subheading lists items that discuss an author’s influence on other authors)
After you click on a subject heading, you will see a list of items that are held within the Novanet libraries:
Click on the library name in the ‘Owned by’ column to check for availability and call number.
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In addition to looking up specific authors in the catalogue, consider searching more broadly for criticism relating to the author. You could search by literary movement (e.g., Harlem Renaissance; Postcolonialism in literature), theme (e.g., magic in literature, jazz in literature), genre (e.g., drama, poetry), and/or time period (Science fiction – 20th century – History and criticism; Literature, Medieval – History and criticism).
For example, if you were looking for literary criticism on African American writers, you could use the following subject headings:
American literature – African American authors – History and criticism
American drama - African American authors – History and criticism
American fiction - African American authors – History and criticism
American poetry – African American authors – History and criticism
Or, to find criticisms about African Americans in written works, you might try the following subject headings:
African Americans in literature
African American women in literature
Criticism in Journal Articles – Using Journal Databases:
The Library subscribes to several literature-related databases that contain literary criticism.
- Literature Resource Center
- Literature Online (LION)
- MLA International Bibliography
- JSTOR
- EBSCO Academic Search Premier (covers a variety of subject areas, including literary criticism)
Other databases may also contain articles on literary criticism. Ask at the Library’s Information Desk if you need help in identifying other sources of journal articles.
A sample search within the Literature Resource Center database:
You can search by the author’s name and/or by the title of their work.
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A sample search within the EBSCO Academic Search Premier database:
Perform a keyword search by entering the author’s name, the title of the work and the term “criticism”.
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If you are unable to find enough resources through either the Novanet catalogue or the journal article databases, you may want to consult the following list of explications. Explications index critiques and reviews and are arranged alphabetically by author. Unless otherwise noted, most of the books listed below are located within the general collection on the 3rd floor of the Library.
Poetry
American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism - Z 1231 P7 A44 1984
Guide to American Poetry Explication - Z 1231 P7 G85 1989
Guide to British Poetry Explication - Z 2014 P7 M34 1991
Short Stories
Twentieth Century Short Story Explication
Novels
The Contemporary Novel: A Checklist of Critical Literature on the British and American Novel Since 1945 - Z 1231 F4 A34
The Twentieth-Century English Novel: An Annotated Bibliography of General Criticism - Z 2014 F5 C35
Drama
American Drama Criticism: Interpretations, 1890-1965 Inclusive, of American Drama Since the First Play Produced in America - Z 1231 D7 P3
Drama Criticism - Z 5781 C65
European Drama Criticism - Z 5781 P2
There are many literary criticism sites to be found freely available on the Internet. The following are just a few of the sites you can link to. Note: Some of the library’s literature databases also contain links to selected web sites.
Prose and Verse Criticism of Poetry
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display_rpo/indexcriticism.cfm
Modern American Poetry
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/
Internet Public Library – Literary Criticism
http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
Victoria Research Web – Book Reviews