Literary Theory: IC Library & Web Resources

      
     Jacques Derrida making a differance at Cornell in 1982.

(Click to run targeted Subject searches in the IC Library catalog)

Criticism
Criticism--History
Criticism, Textual
Literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.
Literature--Philosophy
Literature--Aesthetics
Literary form
Mimesis in literature
Allegory
Symbolism in literature
Romanticism
Realism in literature
Naturalism in literature
Aestheticism
Psychoanalysis and literature
Marxist criticism
Socialist realism in literature
Formalism (Literary analysis)
Modernism (Literature)
Modernism (Literature)--United States
New Criticism
Absurd (Philosophy) in literature
Existentialism in literature
Popular culture--Philosophy
Popular culture in literature
Discourse analysis, Narrative [narratology]
Narration (Rhetoric)
Narration (Rhetoric)--History--20th century
Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics--History--20th century
Race in literature
African Americans in literature
Minorities in literature
Feminist theory
Feminist criticism
Feminist literary criticism
Feminism and literature
Sex role in literature
Gender identity in literature
Reader-response criticism
Structuralism (Literary analysis)
Semiotics and literature
Culture--Philosophy
Deconstruction
Ethnicity in literature
Ethnic groups in literature
Multiculturalism in literature
Historicism  [includes New Historicism]
Materialism in literature  [Cultural Materialism]
Magic realism (Literature)
Queer theory
Homosexuality and literature
Postmodernism (Literature)
Postmodernism (Literature)--United States
Postcolonialism in literature
Ecocriticism

Books by a critic require an Author search; for books about a critic use a Subject search:

Adorno, Theodor W., 1903-1969
Barthes, Roland
Benjamin, Walter, 1892-1940
Brooks, Cleanth, 1906-
Butler, Judith, 1956-
De Man, Paul
Derrida, Jacques
Frye, Northrop
Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984
Lacan, Jacques, 1901-
Leavis, F. R. (Frank Raymond), 1895-
Lukács, György, 1885-1971
Said, Edward W Saussure, Ferdinand de, 1857-1913
Trilling, Lionel, 1905-1975

In the IC Library Reference collection (back of the main floor):.

• The Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory & criticism

Two seminal works on the history of literary theory are available in the IC circulating collection:

• A History of modern criticism: 1750-1950

• Cambridge history of literary criticism

Log-in required.

• Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory

• Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism

• Dictionary of Critical Theory

• Routledge Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English

• Literary Resources: Theory  Selected online resources from Jack Lynch at Rutgers University.

• Voice of the Shuttle: Literary Theory  Sprawling gateway site.

• Introduction to Modern LIterary Theory: Short overviews and links.

• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Literary Theory  An overview.

• Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism: use the table of contents on the left to access these succinct overviews.

• Rhetorical and Cultural Studies: Critical Theory  Gateway to Web resources for individual theorists.

• Introductory Guide to Critical Theory: Course-support site with a range of materials.

• Cultural Studies and Critical Theory: A gateway.

• Introduction to Theory of Literature: From Open Yale Courses a series of 26 video lectures from Professor Paul Fry of Yale English.

• Literary Theory: John Lye's Course and Source Page:  Short overviews for a range of schools.

• Contemporary Philosophy, Critical Theory and Postmodern Thought  Gateway site.

• Theory.org.uk:  Brief overviews and links for selected schools and theorists.

     The best databases for criticism and theory are those listed on the English Literature & Language main page, but be aware that the MLA International Bibliography from Literature Online has the most developed Subject vocabulary for literary theory. 
     To see what is available go to the Advanced MLAIB search, scroll down to the "Literature Topic" field, and open the "Select from Thesaurus" link to the right of the search slot.
      This thesaurus will show you what words and phrases are used to index articles on a vast range of theoretical concerns.