7. Literary Theory and Criticism
Selected internet sites are also listed in the Literary Theory link on Harvard's Department of Romance Languages and Literatures French Online Resources web page.
Selected Subject Encyclopedias
The Edinburgh encyclopaedia of modern criticism and theory / edited by JulianWolfreys. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002.
Widener: RR 3005.31.15
"Provides extensive coverage of related and contextual discourses, as well as critical overviews of the work of major figures responsible…for the development of those discourses in the now-related areas of philosophy, poetics, politics, aesthetics, linguistics and psychoanalysis." Three-part arrangement of the contents with collections of articles on Critical Discourse in Europe, Theories and Practice of Criticism in North America and Criticism, Literary and Cultural Studies in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Glossary of terms.
The Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory and criticism / edited by Michael Groden, Martin Kreiswirth, and Imre Szeman. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2005.
Widener: RR3005.31.13
Lamont: PN81 .J554 2005
Includes contributions from literary theorists, philosophers, political theorists, anthropologists, psychologists and psychoanalysts. Articles on postmodernism, postcolonial cultural studies and individual authors and theorists; international in scope. Useful entries on types of theory and criticism, such as French theory and criticism, feminist theory and criticism, etc.
Johns Hopkins Guide to literary theory and criticism
The online resource is searchable by keyword and browsable by an alphabetical
list of entries, a listing of ideas, history and theory entries, a topics
index and a name index. Each entry has selected hyper-links to other individuals'
entries or related topics and themes and the text is updated more frequently
than the print edition (above).
The Norton anthology of theory and criticism / Vincent B. Leitch, general editor. 1st ed. New York: Norton, 2001.
Widener: RR 3005.31.17
Widener: WID-LC PN86 .N67 2001
A wide-ranging collection of selections from 148 literary theorists and critics (arranged in chronological order), covering developments in theory and criticism over the centuries. An excellent introduction gives an overview of the field of theory through its main historical periods, movements and schools, issues and key terms.
Twentieth-Century European Cultural Theorists, First Series ( 2001) has bio-bibliographical articles on prominent theorists including Adorno, Arendt, Cixous, Derrida, Foucault, Habermas, Kristeva, Levi-Strauss, Lyotard, de Saussure and others.
Widener: RR 3129.5 vol. 242 (in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series)
Twentieth-century European cultural theorists. Second series (2004) includes articles on more theorists, including articles on Barthes, Blanchot, Deleuze, Lacan, Sartre, among others.
Widener: RR 3129.5 vol. 296 (in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series)
KLGonline
The "Kritische Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur" (KLG), or "Critical Encyclopedia to Contemporary German Literature," provides bio-bibliographical information on hundreds of writers of German literature after 1945.
**To find specific titles in HOLLIS, you may Browse Subject beginning with…
French (English, German) literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.
or
Literature-- History and criticism--Theory, etc.
Other Subject Dictionaries and Specialized Sources
The Cambridge history of literary criticism.
Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989-
Widener: WID-LC PN86 .C27 1989
Lamont: PN86 .C27 1989
Child Memorial ChM 1012.4.2
The Columbia dictionary of modern literary and cultural criticism
/ Joseph Childers and Gary Hentzi, general editors. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1995.
Widener: RR 3005.31.30
Child Memorial: ChM 1007.18.4
A basic reader's companion with concise definitions for non-specialist and specialist alike. General bibliography, p. 325-351.
Hawthorn, Jeremy. A glossary of contemporary literary theory.
4th ed. London: Arnold; New York: Co-published in the United States by
Oxford University Press, 2000.
Widener: RR 3005.31.11
Lamont: PN44.5 .H37 2000x
A selection of terms from "about 1970" to the present. Prefatory material on using the glossary contains useful groupings of terms according to their intellectual associations or origins, groupings related to key concepts, such as discourse analysis, narratology, Postcolonialism, etc., a keyword guide useful in further research. Other useful glossaries and dictionaries, key specialist sources are included as well as an extensive general bibliography of books, book chapters and articles.
Cultural theory: The key concepts / edited by Andrew Edgar and Peter Sedgwick. Rev ed. London; New York: Routledge, 2002.
Widener: RR 3005.31.16
Edgar, Andrew. Cultural theory: the key thinkers
/ Andrew Edgar and Peter Sedgwick. London; New York: Routledge, 2002.
Widener: WID-LC HM621 .E34 2003
The two companion volumes include succint articles on key concepts and theorists accompanied by short bibliographies. Boldface references to other related terms in each entry. Further readings listed. Glossary, extensive general bibliography and name, subject indexes.
Handbook of critical theory / edited by David M. Rasmussen. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
Widener: WID-LC B809.3 .H36 1996
Child Memorial: ChM 1017.23.5
A dictionary of cultural and critical theory
/ editor, Michael Payne. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell
Reference, 1996.
Widener: RR 4708.5
Child Memorial: ChM 1007.18.7
Includes survey articles on area and period studies and some polemical essays on key topics in cultural and critical theory, particularly contemporary theory. The work is intended to be "provocative and provisional."
New Pauly Online
An encyclopedia covering the ancient world from the prehistory of the Aegean to Late Antiquity including information on persons, places, institutions, events, artifacts, literature, technical terms, ideas, and concepts.
Bibliographies and Bibliographical Guides
Baker, William. Recent work in critical theory, 1989-1995: an annotated bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Widener: WID-LC PN81.Z99 B35 1996x
This source includes the wide range of disciplines and genres that now constitute critical practice. The annotated bibliography is arranged by subject, with chapters devoted to: General Criticism, Semiotics, Narratology, Rhetoric and Language Systems, Postmodernism and Deconstruction, Reader-Response and Phenomenological Criticism, Feminist Criticism and Gender Studies, Psychoanalytic Criticism and Historical Criticism. Author and subject indexes.
Hebel, Udo J. Intertextuality, allusion, and quotation: an international bibliography of critical studies. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
Widener: WID-LC PN98.I58 Z994 x, 1989
Now dated, this work was the first to combine intertextual studies with the previously unexplored topics of allusion and quotation, following scholars such as Genette, Kristeva and Schmid. Alphabetical bibliography followed by Index to Writers and Anonymous Texts and a subject index.
Orr, Leonard. Research in critical theory since 1965: a classified bibliography. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
Widener: RR3003.1
A classified bibliography covering more common categories such as structuralism, semiotics, deconstruction, and feminist criticism, but also including citations for works on narratology, narrative text-grammar, narrative semiotics, reader-response criticism and reception aesthetics. Includes dissertations.
The year's work in critical and cultural theory. Oxford : Published for the English Association by Blackwell Publishers, 1994-
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .Y43
A companion volume to the Year's work in English, developed to recognize the broadening of the field. Part 1 covers the year's work by subject (discourse analysis, film theory, historicism, theories of reading and reception, postmodernism, queer theories/culture, etc.) Part 2 is a collection of essays on current theoretical issues and debates in the realms of culture and communication and has evolved over the years to include contemporary topics such as Visual Cultural Studies, Virtual Cultures, and Culture, Society and Human Genetics. Books received sections.
Selected Journals
Constellations: an international journal of critical and democratic theory. v.1- 1994-
[Oxford, Eng. ; Cambridge, MA, USA : Blackwell Publishers.
Networked Resource Provides full-text articles from 1997.
Widener: WID-LC | H1 .C82x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room.
[Continues:
Praxis international = Praxis.[Oxford, England]: Basil Blackwell,
1981-1994.
Widener: WID-LC HX3 .P715x]
Issued three times a year, Constellations is a journal of social, cultural and political critique, seeking to explore the "dissonances, discrepancies and ironies between critical disciplinary and institutional developments and debates. Special section in Vol. 10 on Re-reading Foucault; upcoming issue will include two of Pierre Bourdieu's previously untranslated manuscripts. Book reviews.
Critical
horizons: journal of social & critical theory..
v. 1- 2000-
Leiden, Netherlands; Boston, MA: Brill Academic Publishers.
Networked Resource Provides access to full text of articles from 2000.
Widener: WID-LC H1 .C824x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room
Stacks.
Critical Horizons provides a forum for critical debate of current issues and topics. A recent issue considered "the other" in articles drawing upon currents of thought in recent continental philosophy, critical and colonial theories.
Critical
inquiry. v. 1- 1974/1975-
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Widener: P 142.14 for v. 8-; current issues in Peridocals Reading Room
(check at desk)
[Vol. 1-7 in Microforms (Lamont) Microfiche S 412]
Law School: NX 1 .C64
Fine Arts FA3.140 Current issue is on Inspection rack
Schlesinger: Periodicals Stacks
An interdisciplinary journal focused on dialog and debate by eminent critics and emerging scholars on a wide range of issues related to contemporary criticism and culture. Concludes with "Books of Critical Interest" section (not annotated). Tables of contents (with free e-mail service) and browsable, searchable recent issues at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CI/home.html
Critical studies. v. 1- 1989-
Amsterdam ; Atlanta : Rodopi.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .C73x for vol. 12+; Vols. 1-11 in Harvard Depository
Collections of articles in theme volumes such as "Unforeseeable Americas: Questioning Cultural Hybridity in the Americas;" "The Seeing Century: Film Vision and Identity" and "Language--Meaning--Social Construction: Interdisciplinary Studies."
Cultural critique. v. 1- fall 1985-
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Widener: WID-LC AS30 .C82x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
Cultural critique presents international and interdisciplinary explorations of intellectual controversies and highlights issues in culture, theory and politics. Book reviews.
Criticism. v. 1- winter 1959-
Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Widener: Philol 37.34; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room.
Criticism presents articles treating a "range of approaches to critical theory, literary history, genres and texts, including film and folklore. Book reviews.
Diacritics. v. 1- 1971-
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Widener: Philol 359.10; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room.
Diacritics broadened its scope in 1999 to include emerging areas of cultural endeavor: the Romance cultures of America, including Francophone Canada, Brazil, the Spanish-speaking countries and US Latino culture, and the Francophone cultures of the Mediterranean basin.The journal includes review articles, "Texts/Contexts section, interviews and a Virtual Gallery. Focusing on contemporary criticism, several special issues have been published on "Cultural Studies: Interdisciplinarity and Translation, "Trauma and Psychoanalysis" and "Irigary and the Political Future of Sexual Difference."
Essays
in criticism. v. 1- Jan. 1951-
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Widener: Philol 673.20; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
A distinguished journal of British literary criticism founded in 1951 by F. W. Bateson. The journal purports to maintain a "balance between the constructive and the sceptical…at a time when criticism has become so diversified." The Critical Opinion section discusses topical issues. Reviews.
Germanic Review. 1- Jan. 1926-
Washington [etc.] Heldref Publications [etc.]
Widener Philol 535.10; current issues in the Periodicals Reading Room
The Germanic Review features peer-reviewed articles on German literature and culture, plus several reviews of the latest books in the field. Recent articles concern Kafka, Grete Weil, Karl Krauss, Apelfeld, and Jewish writing in German.
Genre: forms of discourse and culture. v. 1- Jan. 1968-
Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago Circle,
Widener: Philol 37.38; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
A quarterly devoted to the study of "codes, conventions and histories of generic forms in the context of their cultural manifestations and effects." Explores questions of genre in both literary and non-literary forms. Reviews.
Historical materialism: research in critical Marxist theory. v. 1- 1997-
London, U.K.: Historical Materialism, London School of Economics.
Widener: WID-LC D16.9 .H578x
A journal that purports to "reappropriate and refine the classical Marxist tradition for emancipatory purposes, creating dialogue and debate between researchers and academics working in different traditions of Marxism. Upcoming is a special symposium on Marxism and fantasy.
Interdisciplinary literary studies: a journal of criticism and theory. v. 1- fall 1999-
DuBois, PA: Penn State Altoona, 1999.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .I57x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
Publishing essays, the "Critical Forum," reviews and interviews, this journal seeks pieces that "explore the interconnections between literary study and other disciplines, ideologies and cultural methods of critique" and the pedagogical possibilites of such study. All nationalities, periods and genres are included. Vol. 3, no. 1 is a special issue on Literary Ecocriticsm.
Journal of literary studies = Tydskrif vir literatuurwetenskap. v. 1- 1985-
Pretoria : SAVAL (South African Society for General Literary Studies)
Widener: WID-LC PN9 .J66x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
With articles in Dutch or English and abstracts in both languages, the journal includes Review essays and a books received section. Themes treated in recent issues include American Studies, Politics of the Novel and Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory. Index volumes also contain abstracts.
Literature, interpretation, theory: Lit. v. 1- Dec. 1989-
New York: Gordon and Breach.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .L58x; current issues in Perodicals Reading Room Stacks
Calling itself a "dynamic forum for fresh and forceful interpretation of a wide range of literary texts," the editors are not confined by period, region, genre. Essays are informed by psychoanalytical theory, structuralism, postructuralism, gender theory, new or old historicism, postcolonial theory, semiotics, Marxism. Commentary on literary texts, film and popular media is included.
Literatur und Kritik; Oesterreichische Monatsschrift. Heft. 1- 1966-
Salzburg: O. Mueller.
Widener: PGerm 267.10; current issues: Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
Modern language quarterly. v. 1- Mar. 1940-
Durham: Duke University Press.
Widener: Philol 335.14; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room.
MLQ focuses on literary change in all periods, and features reflections on the relationship of literary change or historicism on feminism, ethnic studies, cultural materials, discourse analysis and other forms of cultural critique. MLQ has featured recent articles on Edward Said, DuBois, race and psychoanalysis, and National Literary Histories. Includes reviews.
Moderna. v. 1- 1999-
Pisa: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali.
Widener: WID-LC PQ4001 .M63x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
"Semestrale di teori e critica della letteratura," contents include Teoria, Critica, Bilanci.
The latter section has featured bibliographical articles on Montale and Il Bicentenario Leopardiano.
New German critique; NGC. v. 1- winter 1973-
New York: TELOS Press.
Widener: Ger 14.7; Ctr Eur Studies: Eur 40.31
A leading journal of German studies, NGC devotes its pages to "twentieth-century social theory, philosophy, literature, film, media and art, reading literary texts in light of current theoretical debates." Special issues on German film history, Habermas's Discourse Ethics, Minorities in German Culture, Adorno, Fassbinder, Junger, etc.
New
literary history. v. 1- Oct. 1969-
Baltimore, etc. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Widener: Philol 30.39; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room
Fine Arts: Harvard Depository FA 14.65
Schlesinger: Periodicals Stacks
NLH publishes theoretical articles treating subjects such as the nature of literary theory, the relationship of linguistics to literature, literary change and the evolution of styles, conventions and genres, in addition to articles from other disciplines on the problems of literary history or literary study. Recent issues focused on "Inquiries into Ethics and Narratives" and "Theorizing Genres."
The Oxford literary review. v.1-
Oxford, Eng., Oxford Literary Review.
Widener: WID-LC AP4 .O934
Soliciting "critical analyses of literary, philosophical, political and psychoanalytic theory," the review has published theme issues on topics such as "Monstrism," "Disastrous Blanchot," "Technologies of the Sign" and "Derridas." Book reviews.
Orbis tertius: revista de teoría y crítica literaria. v. 1- 1996-
La Plata: Centro de Estudios de Teoría y Crítica Literaria, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de La Plata.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .O73
Paragraph: the journal of the Modern Critical Theory Group. v. 1- 1983-
Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: The Group.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .P37x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
Issued three times yearly, Paragraph publishes articles and reviews exploring critical theory and its application to literature, the arts and society. Regular special issues on critics such as Irigaray, Cixous, Michel de Certeau, Jean-Luc Nancy and key issues (hybridity, cultures and identities in the new Europe, Francophone Texts and Postcolonial Theory). Tables of contents, special issue information and cumulative index, issues 16-24.
Pasajes. v. 1- sept./dic. 1999-
Valencia : Universitat de València y la Fundación Cañada Blanch.
Widener: WID-LC CB3 .P37x F; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room stacks.
"Revista de pensamiento contemporaneo," this large-format journal, richly illustrated, features several perspectives on a theme (subjects such as Identidades, Naciones, Culturas" and "Impunidad, Memoria, Histórica y Legitimidad Democrática" ) as well as interviews, reviews and editorials.
Postmodern culture [electronic resource]: PMC. v.1- 1990-
Raleigh, NC: Postmodern Culture.
Networked Resource: v. 1- 1990-
Considered a "groundbreaking groundbreaking experiment in scholarly publishing on the Internet," PMC is a forum for critical thought on a range of issues, from identity politics to the economics of information. Recent special issues have featured articles on themes such as "Trauma: Essays on the Limit of Knowledge and Experience," Film and Hypertexts. Includes reviews and "Related Readings," a list of links to miscellany, collections, newsgroups and periodicals of interest to the field. A substantial, searchable, browsable "Bibliography of Postmodernism and Critical Theory" appears in the vol. 9, no. 3 (May 1999) issue.
Postscript. v. 1- 1993-
St. John's, Nfld.: Dept. of English, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Widener: Harvard Depository PN80 .P67; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
A graduate journal of criticism and theory and concentrating on the interaction of the arts and sciences, practical pedagogy Includes book reviews.
Pretexts: literary and cultural studies. v. 1- 1989-
Rondebosch, South Africa : Arts Faculty, University of Cape Town, 1989-
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .P74x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room stacks.
Concentrating on, but not limited to, South African writing, Pretexts presents "truly interdisciplinary criticism, one which integrates the three dimensions of textual, historical and theoretical analysis." Essays on literature, film, visual arts and which explore the discourses of race, gender and history accompany sections on Critical Resources (review essays) and Positions (polemical articles).
Social semiotics. v. 1- 1991-
Basingstoke: Taylor & Francis.
Widener: WID-LC P99.4.S62 S63x ; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
Social semiotics seeks articles in which connections can be drawn between new methods of semiotics analysis and contemporary social theory, postructuralist social science, feminist theories, psychoanalysis, decontruction and cultural studies. Recent articles on Bourdieu, feminine subjectivities, subjectivity and identity and discourse and realism have appeared. Book reviews.
Sociocriticism. v. 1- 1985-
Montpelier: Centre d'Etudes et de recherche sociocritiques.
Widener: WID-LC PN98.S6 S62x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
Articles in English, French and Spanish. Author resumés and bilingual abstracts in each issue. Recent special issues on Literatura, Arte, Sociedad: Estudios Comparados and "Sobre la nocion de sujeto cultural" and media and film studies. Includes pieces treating research in progress. Book reviews.
Substance. v. 1- 1971-
Madison, Wis., Sub-Stance, inc.
Widener: Philol 53.30; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
Schlesinger: Periodicals Stacks
"A review of theory and literary criticism." An interdisciplinary review soliciting discourses about literature from a variety of fields, including philosophy, social science, science and the arts. Special issues on Theatricality, The American Production of French Theory, Jacques Jouet and Pierre Bourdieu. Review essays and reviews.
Symploke:
a journal for the intermingling of literary, cultural and theoretical
scholarship. v. 1- winter 1993-
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .S87
Symploke is interested in articles exploring the connections between philosophical, literary, cultural, critical and intellectual history. Recent special issues have been published on "The Sites of Pedagogy," "Globalism & Theory," and "Affiliation."
Textual practice. v. 1- 1987-
Basingstoke: Taylor & Francis.
Widener: WID-LC PN80 .T49x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
An international journal of radical literary studies, Textual Practice welcomes interdisciplinary contributions in philosophy, law, politics, history of science, feminism, cultural and media studies. Reviews. Accompanied by abstracts and keywords applicable to each article.
Theory, culture & society. v. 1- 1982-
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Widener: WID-LC H1 .T48x; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks.
Launched to acknowledge the resurgence of interest in culture in contemporary social science, the journal has featured articles by notable social and cultural theorists such as Foucault, Bourdieu, Baudrillard, Goffman, Habermas, Giddens and others. Interviews.
Yale Journal of Criticism. v. 1- 1987/1988-
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Project Muse: v. 9- 1996-
Widener: WID-LC PN 80 .Y35x; Current issues in Periodicals Reading Room.
A semi-annual journal reflecting the "most powerful questions of our critical moment."
Interdisciplinary debates in the humanities, including literature, philosophy, popular culture and visual arts. Conference papers, review essays and original art are also included.