2. Sources on All Literary Periods
Literary subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides, bibliographies and literary histories in print are described here. These sources cover all literary periods or more than one period.
Widener's Loker Reading Room houses reference materials in the humanities and social sciences, with a smaller number of selected resources in the sciences. The Harvard RR classification arrangement is used. The Literature section is found in RR 3003 through RR 3541; French literature sources are in the RR 3161 to RR 3180 range; Literary criticism sources in RR 3005. Here is a selected list (Reference works with WID-LC call numbers are located in the stacks).
Literature Surveys, Subject Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française. Paris Larousse, 2001.
Widener: RR 3168.25
Longer articles on prominent authors include chronologies (two-columns: Vie et Oeuvre) and bibliographies of Oeuvres [and] Etudes. Short bibliographies accompany most signed articles; illustrated. This title is an abridged version of an earlier work, which contains chronologies and longer bibliographies:
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. [Nouv. éd. mise à jour et enrichie]. Paris: Bordas, 1987.
Widener: RR 3168.20
Coleman, Kathleen. Guide to French poetry explication.
New York: G.K. Hall; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York Maxwell
Macmillan International, 1993.
Widener: RR 3163.5
Lamont: REF.ROOM PQ401 .C65 1993
All literary periods are represented by explications from various sources, published in English and French between 1960-1990. Prose poems are not included, Rimbaud being a notable exception.
Dictionary of literary biography. Detroit: Gale Research, 1978-
Widener: RR 3129.5
The DLB contains lengthy biography with critical commentary and bibliographies of primary and secondary works of a wide range of writers, living and deceased. Some brief articles appear; for major figures, comprehensive pieces include biographical materials, references, the location of the author’s papers. Articles are accompanied by drawings, photographs, paintings and copies of manuscript pages. Use the index in the last volume of the series to find all authors (each volume contains a cumulative index). For French authors, see the following volumes in the set: vol. 123: Nineteenth-Century French Fiction Writers: Naturalism and Beyond; vol. 72: French novelists, 1930-1960; Vol. 192: French Dramatists, 1789-1914; Vol. 208: Literature of the French and Occitan Middle Ages: Eleventh to Fifteenth Century; Volume 217, Nineteenth Century French Poets; Vol. 258, Modern French Poets; Vol. 268, Seventeenth-Century French Writers; vol. 301, Gustave Flaubert: A Documentary Volume among others.
Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. Paris: A. Fayard, 1951-
Widener: RR 3168. 2 Library has: v. 1-5 in 7.
Vol. 5 (in two parts) covers the nineteenth century. Articles on authors cover "La Vie," "L’Oeuvre," "Bibliographie."
The feminist encyclopedia of French literature / Eva Martin Sartori, editor-in-chief. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Widener: RR 3169.4
Covers all periods and includes articles on literary, historical, political and sociological topics, including literary genres, movements, institutions and events. Short bibliographies follow each entry and a general bibliography appears at the end of the volume, along with a chronology of writers.
Levi, Anthony. Guide to French Literature. Beginnings to 1789. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.
Widener: RR 3161.4
and
Levi, Anthony. Guide to French Literature. 1789 to present. Detroit: St. James Press, 1992.
Widener: RR 3161.5
Long survey articles on authors including Life, Works, Publications by genre, Biographical and critical studies and Bibliography. Useful chronology at beginning of volume. More useful as a literary resource for major authors, movements, themes and concepts.
Makward, Christiane P. Dictionnaire littéraire des
femmes de langue française: de Marie de France à Marie NDiaye
/ Christiane P. Makward et Madeleine Cottenet-Hage; avec la collaboration
de Mary-Helen Becker, Erica Eisinger et al. Paris: Karthala, 1996.
Widener: WID-LC PQ149 .M35 1996x
Supported by the Agence de la Francophonie (ACCT), some articles are bibliographical only; contemporary works are emphasized.
Morier, Henri. Dictionnaire de poétique et de rhétorique. 5. éd. rev. et augm. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1998.
Widener: WID-LC PN1021 .M6 1998
The classic work containing lengthy articles on terms, with diagrams and tables. Bibliography of "Ouvrages relatifs à la technique de l'expression."
The new Oxford companion to literature in French
/ edited by Peter France. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University
Press, 1995.
Widener: RR 3168.3
Lamont: REF.ROOM PQ41 .N49 1995x
Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. PQ41 .N49 1995
The standard work in English, with articles on authors and literary, historical and cultural concepts.
Osburn, Charles B. Research and reference guide to French studies. 2nd ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1981.
Widener: RR 3162. 17
Le Robert des grands écrivains de langue française / sous la direction de Philippe Hamon et Denis Roger-Vasselin. Paris: Dictionnaires Le Robert, 2000.A revised edition of a good introductory source that includes reference tools, concordances, dictionaries, iconographies, filmographies, encyclopedias, surveys of scholarship. General works and works on genres are followed by works on the language and literature of various periods. Includes sources on literary movements and themes, genres and foreign influences, with the longest chapter on individuals and works.
Widener: RR 3168.12
The "canon" as defined in 150 bio-bibliographical entries including biography, selected secondary works, critical works and analyses and stylistics. Personal name and title indexes.
Works covering one or more centuries
Birkett, Jennifer. A guide to French literature: from early modern to postmodern / Jennifer Birkett and James Kearns. New York: St. Martin's Press; Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997.
Widener: WID-LC PQ305 .B524 1997; Lamont: PQ305 .B524 1997
"Written to provide a map of some key points in the development of literature from the early modern period to the present day. " In three parts, "The Making of the Modern Subject," (covering 1515-1815), "The Bourgeois Century, 1815-1914" and "A Century of Transformations."
Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle / sous la direction de François Bluche. Paris: Fayard, 1990.
Widener: WID-LC DC33.4 .D54 1990x
Articles on economic, literary, cultural and political terms, personages. Covers the period 1589-1715. Accompanied by groupings of entries under rubrics such as Administration, Beaux-arts, Belles-lettres, Cour de France, Sociéte, Vie quotidienne et santé and others.
Dolbow, Sandra W. Dictionary of modern French literature: from the age of reason through realism. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986.
Widener: WID-LC PQ41 .D65 1986
An introductory source with 300 entries accompanied by bibliographies. Articles cover writers, literary terms, works and movements for the period 1715-1880.
Twentieth-century literary movements dictionary: a compendium to more than 500 literary, critical, and theatrical movements, schools, and groups from more than 80 nations, covering the novelists, poets, short-story writers, dramatists, essayists, theorists, and works, genres, techniques, and terms associated with each movement / Helene Henderson and Jay P. Pederson, editors. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 2000.
Widener: RR 3001.7
Lamont: REF.ROOM PN597 .T94 2000
The first volume of this set is a dictionary arrangement of articles on literary movements, with articles treating movements in different countries. Bibliographies accompany each article. The second volume of this set is an index to movements and individuals associated with them, followed by citations to descriptions of each in more than twenty-five well-known literary dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks.
Bibliographies and Bibliographical Guides
This section includes general sources covering more than one century. Bio-bibliographies containing substantial bibliographical listings appear here.
Bassan, Fernande. French language and literature: an annotated bibliography. New York: Garland, 1989.
Widener: RR 3162.15
Listing of works related to the study of various literary periods, including Francophone literature, along with general reference and bibliographical works, studies devoted to the French language. Covers publications through 1988. Arranged by literary period, this source includes the typical range of publications: bibliographies, dictionaries, journals, history, literary histories, anthologies, literary criticism, studies arranged by genre and literary movement.
Bibliographie de la littérature française (XVIe-XXe siècles). Année 1985-
Paris: A. Colin.
Widener: WID-LC PQ2.Z99 R55x
Annual bibliography of general works (anthologies, bibliographies, dictionaries, francophonie, history of ideas, history of publishing, language studies, studies by genre, studies on internet resources, etc.) followed by works listed by century. Each section is subdivided into sections covering bibliographies, special studies (as above) and studies by genre) followed by critical texts arranged by individual author listings. Author, title and subject indexes. Année 1985-2000 issued as a numbered issue of: Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France (Widener: Philol 458; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room) Beginning with année 2001- issued as: Hors série 2002-
Bibliographie der französischen Literaturwissenschaft. 1960-
Frankfurt am Main: V. Klostermann.
Widner: RR 3162.6 Latest five years; WID-LC Z 2171 .B56 Earlier years
An extensive index of journal articles and book chapters, covering general works, works arranged by century. For the 19th, sections devoted to Bibliographies and references, Histoire des Idées, Etudes littéraires, Thèmes et motifs, Langue et vocabulaire, Relations et influences, genres, and Romantisme, Réalisme, Naturalisme, Symbolisme, followed by the authors section. Exhaustive, scholarly citations. (Some overlap with the MLA International Bibliography).
A Critical bibliography of French literature. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1947- edited by David C. Cabeen and Jules Brody.
Widener: 37530.100
Widener: RR 3162.2
Selective, very detailed listing of author's works and related critical works. Background materials followed by studies of genres (poetry, prose, etc.), studies of individual authors and listings of articles and books on special topics. Informative annotations throughout. Author and subject index.
French women writers: a bio-bibliographical source book
/ edited by Eva Martin Sartori and Dorothy Wynne Zimmerman. New York:
Greenwood Press, 1991.
Widener: RR3169.2
Schlesinger: Ref. 840 S287f
Covers the twelfth through the late twentieth century and includes articles on the life and works of European women and others who have written in French and identified themselves with French culture and intellectual life. Entries include major themes, a survey of criticism and bibliographies of primary and secondary works.
Kempton, Richard. French literature: an annotated guide to selected bibliographies. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1981.
Widener: WID-LC PQ101.Z99 K46 1981x
Though dated, this source lists the major annual and retrospective bibliographies for all periods of French literature (with a useful schematic table by century/period). Periodical bibliographies are included. The section on French literature outside France is extremely brief.
Mahaffey, Denis. A concise bibliography of French literature. London; New York: Bowker, 1975.
Widener: WID-LC PQ103.Z99 M33 x
Purports to contain basic bibliographical information on French authors ending with those whose "reputations were established by 1960." Few Francophone authors are listed. Entries include collected and selected works, a "selection from the canon in order of publication," journals, correspondence, selected critical studies and bibliographies.
Studi francesi. anno 1- (1- ); 1957-
Torino: Associazione universitaria italo-francesi.
Widener: Philol 475.10; current issues in Periodicals Reading Room Stacks
Substantial bibliographies in each issue's Rassegna bibliografica.
The Year's work in modern language studies. 1- 1929/30-
London: Modern Humanities Research Association.
Widener: RR 3003.24 Latest 5 yrs.
Widener: Philol 340.5.12 Earlier years
Annual publication with extensive bibliographical entries covering several language and literature families (Latin, Romance, Celtic, Germanic, Slavonic). French Studies has sections on various periods including Early and Late Medieval, 16e, 17e, 18e, Romanticism, 19e, 20e and Francophone literatures. General works and works on individual authors, topics, genres included.
Literary Histories
A highly selective list is presented here. Many of the standard literary histories are in the Widener classification 37530.etc. to 37543. etc., including works by Lanson, Godefroy, Brunel, Brunetière, Calvert, Abraham and Desné and others. In the WID-LC classification, literary histories can be found in WID-LC PQ 101+
All Literary Periods
Histoire de la littérature française illustrée, publiée sous la direction de mm. Joseph Bédier ... et Paul Hazard. Paris, Larousse, [c1923-24] 2 volumes.
Widener: 37543.152 F
Kirkland House: PQ101 .H5 1923
A revised edition that includes a chronology, general bibliographies, instruments de travail et manuels, collections, ouvrages théoriques and works on "Langues d'oc et d'oïl, histoire, civilisation, mentalités, et vie intellectuelle."
Kay, Sarah. A short history of French literature
/ Sarah Kay, Terence Cave, Malcolm Bowie. Oxford; New York: Oxford University
Press, 2003.
Widener: WID-LC PQ119 .K39 2003x
Lamont: New Book Shelf PQ119 .K39 2003
Part I: The middle ages: from the earliest texts to 1470 -- Part II: The early modern period: 1470-1789 -- Part III: The modern period, 1789-2000. Intended to be an overview of key literary works that "offers broad narratives of literary development…[highlighting] significant scenes and movements."
Lanson, Gustave. Histoire de la littérature française / G. Lanson; remaniée et complétée pour la période 1850-1950 par Paul Tuffrau. Paris: Hachette, 1951 (1985 printing)
Widener: WID-LC PQ101 .L3 1951x
Latest edition of the classic literary text.
Lemaître, Henri. La littérature française. Paris: Bordas [1970-72]
Widener: 37542.64
Contents: v. 1. Du Moyen Age â l'âge baroque.--v. 2. Des classiques aux philosophes.--v. 3. Les évolutions du XIXe siècle.--v. 4. Les métamorphoses du XXe siècle.--v. 5. La littérature aujourd'hui. Includes bibliographies.
A Literary history of France. General editor:
P. E. Charvet. London, Benn; New York, Barnes & Noble, 1967-
Widener: 37542.76
Widener: Harvard Depository PQ103 .L5
Standard work in English. Contents: [v. 1] Fox, John. The Middle Ages--[v. 2] McFarlane, I. D. Renaissance France, 1470-1589.--v. 2 [i.e. v. 3] Yarrow, P. J. The seventeenth century, 1600-1715.--[v. 4] Niklaus, R. The eighteenth century, 1715-1789.--v. 4 [i.e. v. 5] Charvet, P. E. The nineteenth century, 1789-1870.--v. 5 [i.e. v. 6] Charvet, P. E. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries, 1870-1940.Littérature française / collection dirigée par Claude Pichois. Paris: Arthaud, 1968-
Widener: 37542.68
While dated, considered by many a classic work of literary history. Contents: v.1. Le moyen âge I : des origines à 1300, [par] Jean Charles Payen -- v.5. La renaissance III : 1570-1624, [par] Jacques Morel -- v.6. L'âge classique I : 1624-1660, [par] Antoine Adam -- v.11. Le XVIIIe siècle III : 1778-1820, [par] Béatrice Didier -- v.14. Le romantisme III : 1869-1896, [par] Raymond Pouilliart -- v.16. Le XXe siècle II :1920-1970, [par] Germaine Brée.
La littérature française: histoire & perspectives / sous la direction de Robert Favre.
Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon, 1990.
Widener: WID-LC PQ101 .L58 1990x
A recent literary history, with signed chapters treating each period/century with an emphasis on the relationships between literature and other fields: religion, the sciences, fine arts, society, language and the evolution of poetry (Introduction). Brief bibliographies.
Littérature française, publiée sous la direction de Joseph Bédier [et] Paul Hazard. Nouv. éd. refondue et augm. sous la direction de Pierre Martino. Paris, Larousse [1948-49]
Widener: 37543.300 F
The two-volume classic illustrated text.
Littérature, textes et documents / collection dirigée par Henri Mitterand. [Paris] : Nathan, 1986-1 1998. 5 vol., illustrated..
Widener: WID-LC PQ116 .L57 1986x
A New history of French literature / edited by Denis Hollier ; with R. Howard Bloch ... [et al.]. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1989.Contents: v. [1]. XVIe siècle: moyen âge / Anne Berthelot, Francois Cornilliat -- v. [2] XVIIe siècle / Claude Puzin -- v. [3] XVIIIe siècle / Michel Charpentier, Jeanne Charpentier -- v. [4] XIXe siècle / Dominique Rincé, Bernard Lecherbonnier -- v. [5] XXe siècle / Bernard Lecherbonnier, Dominique Rincé, Pierre Brunel, Christiane Moatti.
Widener: WID-LC PQ119 .N48 1989; Lamont: PQ119 .N48 1989
Queneau, Raymond. Histoire des littératures. Nouvelle éd. mise à jour. Paris: Gallimard, 1977- 1978 (Encyclopédie de la Pléiade)
Widener: WID-LC PN543 .Q4 1977
Three-volume work: 1. Littératures anciennes, orientales et orales.--2. Littératures occidentales.--3. Littératures françaises, connexes, et marginales) of signed chapters on literary history from its origins through the mid-20th century. Although dated, some references for works published until the late 70s are included in the revised edition. Vol. 3 includes belles-lettres as well as forms of popular fiction and a final essay on the "Histoire de l'histoire de la littérature." Francophone literature sparsely covered.