Literary Research Guide/R

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Literary Research Guide (2017)
by James L. Harner

Other Literatures in English

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2504355Literary Research Guide — Other Literatures in English2017James L. Harner

Other Literatures in English

This section includes works devoted exclusively to literatures in English outside England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the United States. Because writers in some of these literatures are included in reference works on English or British literature, researchers must consult section M: English Literature. Many works listed in sections G: Serial Bibliographies, Indexes, and Abstracts and H: Guides to Dissertations and Theses cover these literatures.

Research Methods edit

R4350 edit

Christenberry, H. Faye, Angela Courtney, Liorah Golomb, and Melissa S. Van Vuuren. Literary Research and Postcolonial Literatures in English: Strategies and Sources. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2012. 262 pp. Lit. Research: Strategies and Sources 11. (Updates appear at http://www.literaryresearchseries.org.) PN73.L53 807.2.

A guide to research strategies and reference sources for the scholar working with postcolonial literatures in English, with a focus on former British colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Following an admirably clear explanation of the basics of online searching (with MLAIB [G335] as the primary example) are chapters on general literary reference sources (but omitting ProQuest Dissertations and Theses [H465] and discussing insufficiently Africa-Wide Information [R4423]); library catalogs; print and electronic bibliographies, indexes, and annual reviews; scholarly journals; literary reviews; magazines and newspapers; microform and digital collections; manuscripts and archives; and Web resources. The last chapter demonstrates how to use many of the works and strategies previously discussed to develop a research plan (using three recent novels as an example of how to address “the unevenness and often unavailability of both primary and secondary materials on postcolonial literatures”). An appendix lists sources in related disciplines. Indexed by authors, titles, and subjects. Describing fully the uses of kinds of reference tools, providing illuminating examples in discussions of key individual resources, detailing techniques for finding kinds of information, illustrating research processes, and perpetuating the high standards reflected by the other volumes in the series, Literary Research and Postcolonial Literatures in English is the essential starting point for anyone working postcolonial literatures in English.

General edit

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4355 edit

Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in English. Ed. Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly. 2nd ed. 2 vols. London: Routledge–Taylor and Francis, 2005. Online through Credo Reference (http://www.credoreference.com). PR9080.A52 E53 820.9′917124′09045.

An encyclopedia of genres, subjects, national literatures, and writers associated with the English-language literatures of Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the Caribbean, East Africa, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saint Helena, Singapore, South Africa, South Central Africa, the South Pacific, Sri Lanka, and West Africa. The more than 1,800 signed entries (with coverage to 2002–03) combine factual information with critical commentary and frequently end with suggestions for further reading (many entries on genres run to several thousand words). Concludes with an admirably detailed index of titles, subjects, and persons. Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in English is easily the most extensive general encyclopedia of the newer literatures in English.

Guides to Primary Works edit

See edit

Books in Print (Q4225).

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4375 edit

“Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature, [1964– ].” Journal of Commonwealth Literature 1 (1965)– . PR1.J67 820.05.

A classified bibliography of primary and secondary works with divisions for general studies, East and Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Australia (with Papua New Guinea), Canada, the Caribbean, India, Malaysia and Singapore, New Zealand (including the South Pacific islands), Sri Lanka, West Indies, Pakistan, and South Africa; some divisions—notably those for East and Central Africa, Western Africa, Southern Africa, and the West Indies—appear irregularly. Each division is prefaced by an overview of the year’s publications and has sections for bibliographies, research aids, primary works (by genre), criticism (classified by general works and individual authors), nonfiction, and new periodicals. Even though “Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature” is not comprehensive, it offers the best coverage of current studies of English-language literature in several of the countries or areas.

Some additional publications are listed in “Bibliography of Books and Articles Published in English on Colonialism and Imperialism in [1999– ],” Journal of Colonialism and Social History 1 (2000– ), which currently organizes journal articles, books, and essays from collections or chapters from books in separate alphabetized, unannotated lists. See New, Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures (R4380), for scholarship before 1964.

Other Bibliographies edit

R4380 edit

New, William H. Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures: A Selective Bibliography to 1970, with a List of Theses and Dissertations. University Park: Penn State UP, 1975. 333 pp. Z2000.9.N48 [PR9080] 016.82′09.

A selective bibliography of scholarship on Commonwealth literatures in English. The 6,576 entries are organized in two parts: published works; theses and dissertations. In each part, entries are listed alphabetically by author in classified divisions for general works and countries or areas (East and West Africa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Rhodesia, South Asia [India, Pakistan, and Ceylon], Southeast Asia [Malaysia, Singapore, and Philippines], and West Indies). Where appropriate, each division has sections for reference works, general studies, and individual authors. Indexed by scholars. Unfortunately, Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures separates published works from theses and dissertations—an unnecessary distinction; moreover, it is superseded in parts by recent bibliographies of a national literature or area. Still, the work remains an indispensable source that includes a significant number of studies overlooked by the standard bibliographies and indexes in section G. For scholarship since 1964, see “Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature” (R4375).

Portions of New are continued in a regrettably short-lived series edited by Alan Lawson: Post-colonial Literatures in English (New York: Hall-Simon 1996–97; Reference Pub. in Lit.):

Lawson, Alan, Leigh Dale, Helen Tiffin, and Shane Rowlands. Post-colonial Literatures in English: General, Theoretical, and Comparative, 1970–1993. 1997. 374 pp.
Lever, Richard, James Wieland, and Scott Findlay. Post-colonial Literatures in English: Australia, 1970–1992. 1996. 361 pp.
Williams, Mark. Post-colonial Literatures in English: Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, 1970–1992. 1996. 370 pp.

Each volume offers a selective annotated guide to scholarship. Although organization varies from title to title, all but General, Theoretical, and Comparative have a section for reference works, general studies, and publications about individual authors. Two indexes: persons; subjects (the latter needs considerable improvement; e.g., Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and the Pacific consists primarily of names and cannot be trusted to index those, Australia is inconsistent in its coverage). Despite the inadequate subject indexing (except in General, Theoretical, and Comparative), these volumes, with their typically full annotations and judicious selectivity, offer some of the best guidance to recent studies of newer literatures in English.

Periodicals edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4385 edit

Warwick, Ronald, comp. and ed. Commonwealth Literature Periodicals: A Bibliography, Including Periodicals of Former Commonwealth Countries, with Locations in the United Kingdom. London: Mansell, 1979. 146 pp. Z2000.9.W37 [PR9080] 016.805.

A bibliography and finding list of English-language scholarly and literary journals published through mid-1977 in or about current and former Commonwealth countries (excluding the United Kingdom). Journals are placed according to focus rather than country of publication, in divisions for general works, Africa, Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, Mediterranean, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, South Asia, and former Commonwealth nations. Many are subdivided by region or genre. A typical entry cites title, frequency of publication, date of first and last issue, place of publication, publisher, editor, variant titles, and holdings in United Kingdom libraries. (North American scholars will want to consult WorldCat [E225], Union List of Serials [K640a], and New Serial Titles [K640] for locations.) Although the inevitable omissions and errors appear in this first attempt at a comprehensive list of Commonwealth literary journals, it is an essential source for identifying and locating frequently elusive publications.

An essential complement for nineteenth-century periodicals is Vann and VanArsdel, Periodicals of Queen Victoria’s Empire: An Exploration (M2525a).

Indexes edit

See edit

Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines (K795).

African Literatures in English edit

Works in section R: Other Literatures in English/General are important to research in African literatures in English.

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4420 edit

Jahn, Janheinz, and Claus Peter Dressler. Bibliography of Creative African Writing. Nendeln: KTO, 1971. 446 pp. Z3508.L5 J28 016.8088.

A bibliography of works by and about African authors writing in English and in a variety of other European and African languages. Jahn and Dressler include all books published before 1900 but only creative works from 1910 to c. 1970 (along with some manuscripts ready for publication); except for plays, they exclude separate works in periodicals and anthologies. Coverage of scholarship (including reviews) is selective but international in scope. Entries are organized alphabetically by author within five classified divisions: general (with sections for bibliographies, journals, general studies, negritude, and general anthologies), Western Africa, Central Africa, Eastern Africa, and Austral Africa. Within each region are sections for general studies, anthologies, and individual works; general studies of an author precede the list of his or her primary works, and studies of a specific work are listed after the work. Additions appear on pp. 376–77. Forgeries are listed in an appendix. Four indexes: books by African language (classified according to the four regions); translations, organized by language of the translation; books, by country; persons. Users should study the introductory discussion of limitations and editorial practices. Impressive in its accuracy and breadth, Bibliography of Creative African Writing remains the best single list of creative works published before 1970. Parts have now been superseded by more recent author and regional bibliographies, however.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4423 edit

Africa-Wide Information. EBSCOhost. EBSCO, 2013. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ebscohost.com>.

A group of databases that provide access to documents about South Africa or produced in the country. Of most interest to literary researchers are the Index to South African Periodicals (1987– ), the South African National Bibliography (1988– ), and—especially—the National English Literary Museum (NELM) databases (with coverage extending back to the nineteenth century, though that for 1990–present is more thorough): Select Index to South African Literature in English, Critical Writings (which currently includes more than 32,100 books, articles, dissertations, and reviews), Select Index to South African Literature in English, Creative Writings (with more than 143,200 records), the NELM catalog (more than 18,800 records), the NELM manuscripts catalog (more than 35,100 records), and A Bibliography of Anglophone Literature and Literary Criticism by Black South Africans (which covers first printings of creative and critical writing by South Africans of color between 1800 and 1990). Many records include abstracts. The database uses the standard EBSCO search interface (I512), with the option of limiting a search to specific databases. Currency and depth of coverage make Africa-Wide Information an essential resource for research in South African literature.

For those unable to access Africa-Wide Information, the NELM will do searches of its databases for a small fee (http://www.ru.ac.za/static/institutes/nelm/).

Other Bibliographies edit

R4425 edit

Lindfors, Bernth. Black African Literature in English: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1979. 482 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 23. Black African Literature in English, 1977–1981: Supplement. New York: Africana, 1986. 382 pp. Black African Literature in English, 1982–1986. London: Zell, 1989. 444 pp. Black African Literature in English, 1987–1991. London: Zell, 1995. 682 pp. Bibliog. Research in African Lits. 3. Black African Literature in English, 1992–1996. Oxford: Zell-Currey, 2000. 654 pp. Black African Literature in English, 1997–1999. Oxford: Zell-Currey, 2003. 457 pp. Z3508.L5 L56 [PR9340] 016.82.

A bibliography of important scholarship and critical editions from 1936 through 1999. Lindfors excludes reviews, political biographies, and newspaper articles on nonliterary activity by authors. Entries are organized in two divisions: genres, topics, and reference sources; individual authors. The first division has sections for bibliographies, biographical sources, interviews with critics and multiple authors, general studies, fiction, drama, media (in 1992–99), poetry, criticism, autobiography, children’s literature, popular literature, language and style, literature and commitment, role of the writer, folklore and literature, image of the African, audience, craft of writing, periodicals, publishing, censorship, research (dissertation guides, surveys of research, and discussions of reference works), teaching, organizations and associations, conferences, and festivals; most of these sections have separate lists of bibliographies and studies. Bibliographies, biographical works, interviews, and criticism are listed separately under each author. Most sections conclude with a lengthy list of cross-references. Only a few entries are briefly annotated, principally with a list of authors discussed but sometimes with a note on content or an evaluative comment. Four indexes: persons; titles of works cited; subjects; regions. Authoritative in its selection of the most important scholarship and including numerous works omitted from the standard bibliographies and indexes in section G, Lindfors is the indispensable guide to the topic; however, users will wish for more extensive annotations by one of the foremost scholars of black African literature in English.

For a statistical analysis of the studies listed in the first four volumes, see Lindfors, “Counting Caliban’s Curses: A Statistical Inventory,” Language, Literature, and Society: A Conference in Honour of Bessie Head, spec. issue of Marang (1999): 57–63.

Australian Literature edit

Works in section R: Other Literatures in English/General are important to research in Australian literature.

Research Methods edit

R4435 edit

Christenberry, H. Faye, and Angela Courtney. Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand: Strategies and Sources. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2011. 267 pp. Lit. Research: Strategies and Sources 6. (Updates appear at http://www.literaryresearchseries.org.) PR9604.3.C47 820.9′994072.

A guide to research strategies and reference sources for the scholar working with Australian or New Zealand literature (with particular attention to the challenges facing those living outside the countries). Following an admirably clear explanation of the basics of online searching are chapters on general literary reference sources; library catalogs; print and electronic bibliographies, indexes, and annual reviews (including some devoted to individual writers); scholarly journals; literary reviews; magazines and newspapers; microform and digital collections; manuscripts and archives; and Web resources. The last chapter demonstrates how to use many of the works and strategies previously discussed to develop a research plan (with Aboriginal Australian literature serving as an example). An appendix lists sources in related disciplines. Indexed by authors, titles, and subjects. Describing fully the uses of kinds of reference tools, providing illuminating examples in discussions of key individual resources, detailing techniques for finding kinds of information (including strategies for those without access to key resources such as AustLit [R4463]), illustrating research processes, and perpetuating the high standards reflected by the other volumes in the series, Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand is the essential starting point for anyone working with literatures of the two countries.

Guides to Reference Works edit

R4440 edit

Lock, Fred, and Alan Lawson. Australian Literature: A Reference Guide. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1980. 120 pp. Australian Bibliogs. Z4011.L6 [PR9604.3] 016.82.

A selective guide to reference sources important to research in Australian literature. The 417 entries—which comprise general works as well as those specific to Australia—are variously organized in seven classified divisions: bibliographies; other reference works (including encyclopedias, language dictionaries, guides to quotations and proverbs, biographical dictionaries, literary handbooks, and literary and cultural histories); individual authors (limited to bibliographies, textual studies, and biographies); periodicals; library resources (with informative descriptions of important collections of Australian literature in the country’s libraries); general guides to literary, bibliographical, and biographical research; and professional associations. Many sections are preceded by headnotes that compare works and offer helpful tips on research procedures. The full annotations clearly describe and frequently evaluate works. Judiciously selective and informative but now dated, this is the essential guide to research in Australian literature. A new edition is a major desideratum. Review: Laurie Hergenhan, Australian Literary Studies 9.4 (1980): 542–47.

Horst Priessnitz and Marion Spies, Neuere Informationsmittel zur Literatur Australiens: Ein bibliographischer Essay (Hamburg: Lit, 1996; 67 pp.; Anglophone Literaturen: Hamburger Beiträge zur Erforschung neuer englischsprachiger Literaturen/Anglophone Lits.: Hamburg Studies in the New Lits. in English 3)—with coverage through 1995 and including some works in progress—is an essential complement to Australian Literature. Each section begins with a list of reference sources, the majority of which are described in an accompanying essay (with numerous additional works cited in footnotes). Unfortunately, the lack of an index and the essay format make Neuere Informationsmittel zur Literatur Australiens less accessible than it should be.

The best general guide to reference works (through 1974) on Australia is D. H. Borchardt, Australian Bibliography: A Guide to Printed Sources of Information [3rd ed.] (Rushcutters Bay: Pergamon, 1976; 270 pp.). The descriptive surveys, keyed to a list of works cited and accompanied by an inadequate subject index, are difficult to scan, however.

Researchers must supplement the preceding with Christenberry and Courtney, Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand: Strategies and Sources (R4435).

Histories and Surveys edit

R4445 edit

Green, H. M. A History of Australian Literature Pure and Applied: A Critical Review of All Forms of Literature Produced in Australia from the First Books Published after the Arrival of the First Fleet until 1950. Rev. Dorothy Green. 2 vols. Sydney: Angus, 1984–85. PR9604.3.G74 820′.9′994.

A critical history of belletristic, philosophical, biographical, theological, historical, and scholarly writing by Australian residents or those influenced by their stay in the country. The history is organized in four periods (1789–1850, 1850–90, 1890–1923, and 1923–50), each divided in two parts—belles lettres and applied literature—with chapters on genres or types of works. Vol. 3, which was to cover 1950–80, was never published. Indexed in vol. 2 by persons, titles, and some subjects. Although in need of updating and superseded in parts by more specialized studies, Green remains the seminal history of Australian literature. Review: (vols. 1–2) Bruce Bennett, Australian Literary Studies 12.4 (1986): 542–46 (includes a comparison with Goodwin, History of Australian Literature [below]).

The best short histories are Ken Goodwin, A History of Australian Literature (New York: St. Martin’s, 1986; 322 pp.), which extends to 1984; Laurie Hergenhan, gen. ed., The Penguin New Literary History of Australia (Victoria: Penguin, 1988; 620 pp.; also published as Australian Literary Studies 13.4 [1988]), with chapters on periods, genres, groups, culture, and literary production; and Bruce Bennett and Jennifer Strauss, eds., The Oxford Literary History of Australia (Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1998; 488 pp.), which replaces (but for Joy Hooton’s bibliographical survey, pp. 427–90) the less satisfactory The Oxford History of Australian Literature, ed. Leonie Kramer (Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1981; 509 pp.).

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4450 edit

Wilde, William H., Joy Hooton, and Barry Andrews. The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1994. 833 pp. PR9600.2.W55 820′.9′944. Online through Oxford Reference (I530).

Covers all aspects of Australian literary culture in about 3,000 entries on authors (including historians, critics, and journalists, but with very selective coverage of contemporary writers), major works, literary and scholarly journals, awards, societies, movements, publishers, literary characters and types, cultural and scholarly organizations, Australian life and history, places, other literature-related topics, and foreign writers who visited the continent or had an impact on its literature. Author entries (which predominate in the listings) include basic biographical information, a brief overview of important works, appreciative commentary in some instances, and (for major writers) a selective list of criticism. Entrants are indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565). Although the Oxford Companion is a useful source for quick reference, several reviewers have noted significant omissions, numerous contradictions in editorial guidelines, and several errors and have questioned the overall balance of the work. Reviews: Overland 102 (1986): 6–15; Miriam J. Shillingsburg, Review 9 (1987): 231–39; (2nd ed.) Brian Kiernan, Antipodes 9.2 (1995): 168–70; Marion Spiess, Australian Literary Studies 17.3 (1996): 310–17 (with numerous additions for nineteenth-century literature).

R4455 edit

The Dictionary of Australian Quotations. Ed. Stephen Murray-Smith. 2nd ed. Port Melbourne: Mandarin, 1992. 493 pp. PN6081.D496 828′.02.

A dictionary of quotations ranging from aboriginal times to the late 1980s and encompassing “anything worth retrieving and repeating that has been said by outsiders about Australia, and anything worth collecting that Australians have said about anything.” Quotations are organized alphabetically by author. Two indexes: keywords; subjects. The corrected reprint of the original edition (Richmond: Heinemann, 1987; 464 pp.) remains useful for quotations deleted in the second edition. The Dictionary is the best source for locating quotations from Australian authors or about the country.

Additional quotations can be found in The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Quotations, ed. Stephen Torre ([Sydney]: Macquarie Lib., 1990; 431 pp.).

Annals edit

R4460 edit

Hooton, Joy, and Harry Heseltine. Annals of Australian Literature. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1992. 367 pp. Z4021.H66 [PR9604.3] 016.8208′0994.

A chronology from 1784 through 1988 of Australian literary works (interpreted broadly to include historical, biographical, political, anthropological, popular, critical, and philological works). Under each year the main column lists author, year of birth, literary work (primarily books), and genre; the secondary column notes births and deaths of writers, the founding of newspapers and periodicals, and publication of nonliterary books by Australians and of significant foreign works referring to Australia. Indexed by authors. Interpreting entries requires continual reference to the key to abbreviations and symbols (p. viii). The introductory discussion of editorial principles is utterly inadequate: for a full understanding of the inclusion and presentation of material readers are expected to consult the original edition (Grahame Johnston, Annals of Australian Literature [Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1970; 147 pp.]). Hooton and Heseltine merely note that their selection of entries is “based on an even broader idea of literature” than Johnston’s and inexcusably provide only “an abbreviated version” of his “principles of presentation.” The exclusion of political, cultural, and historical events and limitation to books make Annals of Australian Literature less useful than it could be for placing a work or author in an intellectual context. Reviews: Australian Literary Studies 4.4 (1970): 421–24; S. J. Routh, Meanjin Quarterly 29.4 (1970): 555–59.

The chronology in Goodwin, History of Australian Literature (R4445a), is a useful supplement.

Guides to Primary Works edit

Lock and Lawson, Australian Literature (R4440), has a valuable discussion of how to identify and locate Australian books (pp. 15–17) and descriptions of Australian library collections (pp. 90–97).

Manuscripts edit

R4462 edit

Trove. National Library of Australia. Natl. Lib. of Australia, n.d. 7 Jan. 2013. <https://trove.nla.gov.au/>. Updated daily.

A crowd-sourced site that includes a variety of documents related to Australia and Australians, including pictures, digitized newspapers, recent theses, archived Web sites, as well as manuscript and archival material. The site absorbed the records from Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts (RAAM), a union register of manuscript collections and individual manuscripts held by Australian libraries and archives. The register covered collections (including those not directly related to Australia), individual manuscripts of primary material, photocopies or microfilms of documents related to the continent, and personal papers in government archives; it excluded unpublished copies of secondary material (e.g., conference papers or theses), media, microfilms or photocopies of non-Australian material, and government records. The Diaries, Letters, and Archives section of Trove is less stringent in its restrictions. Since data in RAAM was taken from a variety of printed and other sources as well as from information submitted by repositories, individual records vary in amount of information and extent of description; the same is true of records created in Trove, which also includes ones submitted by individuals or culled from other electronic sources. A full record includes RAAM number, name of the creator of the collection (e.g., an author or the individual or organization responsible for forming the collection), title of collection, a Check Copyright Status link, date(s) covered by the collection, physical format, size, occupation of the collection creator, keyword subject descriptors, summary (i.e., a description of the content of the collection), biographical note (on the creator), names of individuals represented in the collection, access information, finding aids, finding aid URL, location (linked to the collection’s home page), call number, contributor of the record, tags and comments by users, date created, and date of last update.

In the basic search screen, users can search by keyword; in advanced search, users can combine keyword, title, creator, and subject fields and limit a search by date, format, availability, language, and library or institution. Searching returns records in relevance order; they can be sorted by ascending or descending date.

Trove is the place to begin when searching for Australian manuscript materials; however, searches return many records from nonarchival sources or with no discernible Australian association from locations outside the continent. Researchers looking for literary manuscripts should also search Guide to Australian Literary Manuscripts (http://findaid.library.uwa.edu.au), a database of detailed guides to more than 100 collections.

Printed Works edit

R4463 edit

AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource. U of Queensland, n.d. 5 Mar. 2013. <http://www.austlit.edu.au>. Updated daily. (Former titles: AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature and AustLit: The Australian Literature Gateway.)

A database of print and electronic creative and critical writing and literary nonfiction published since c. 1780 by Australians (including expatriates and visitors) and about Australian literature. Most general discussions of Australian studies, language, or culture are excluded; self-published works are given minimal treatment.

The database includes three kinds of records: biographical (names[s], birth and death dates, ethnicity, summary of life and literary career, links to archival resources, and links to kinds of works by and about the author); organizational (name[s], dates and places of activity, place in and contribution to Australian literature, and selected references); bibliographical (title, publication information, list of editions, content notes, subject headings, translations, and tables of contents for anthologies and collected works). Many bibliographical records include a Library Holdings link. Since AustLit employs the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model, records are contextualized (e.g., a record for a work will include versions of it as well as individual editions or printings). For a discussion of the importance of such contextualized records, see Carol Hetherington, “Setting the Record Straight: Bibliography and Australian Literature,” Australian Literary Studies 21.2 (2003): 198–208.

In Quick Search users can search by keyword, title, or author. Advanced Search allows users to construct a custom search form by selecting attributes in the name (i.e., creator of a work), title, place of composition, author’s works as subject, and subject fields (e.g., the title field allows users to select such subfields as title; publication details; type, form, or genre; awards; source; first line of poem, notes, or role). Guided Search allows users to combine fields for author, language, gender, cultural heritage, year and place of birth, title, subject, date, type, form, and genre; several fields have pull-down menus or a link to the thesaurus. Full Text Search is limited to works digitized by AustLit. Users can also search the thesaurus.

Users can restrict searches to several research subsets (listed under Research & Publications; some include independently produced databases), including book history and print culture, children’s literature, drama, multicultural writers, and south Australia women writers. Searches can be limited to full-text records or separately published works (i.e., books); results can be ordered by date, title, book, or electronic resource (i.e., books or electronic resources will appear at the head of the list, followed by other records in descending chronological order). Users who need to perform more than a simple search should study the Search Tips screen. Users should note that AustLit plans to release a new search interface in spring 2013.

Because the names of search fields are not always clear, users should read the AustLit Fields page before searching (click Help). Records can be marked for e-mailing or screen display (and thence downloaded or printed).

Its sophisticated search interface, currency (records for many works appear within days of their publications), contextualization of a work, and breadth of coverage make AustLit the essential resource for identifying Australian literary works and writings about them.

Bibliography of Australian Literature, ed. John Arnold and John Hay (Saint Lucia: U of Queensland P, 2001– )—which is intended to supersede Miller, Australian Literature from Its Beginnings to 1935 (R4475) and Macartney’s Australian Literature (R4475a)—is now being compiled within AustLit. Coverage is limited to separately published books of creative writing (including poetry, fiction, drama, and collections of short stories) by Australian authors addressed to readers of all ages and published through 2000 (an appendix will eventually extend coverage in vol. 1 through 2000). Books for an adult audience must be by a single author; those for children may contain the work of no more than four writers. Included are authors who were born in Australia and resident there for a substantial part of their lives or during their formative years as well as writers born overseas but now considered Australian or who resided in the country “and produced a work of creative literature reflecting their experiences.” Entries provide a full description of the first edition and location of copy examined and brief citations to selected later editions. The compilers attempt to see a copy of all titles except romance and pulp fiction.

R4465 edit

Australian National Bibliography (ANB). Canberra: Natl. Lib. of Australia, 1961–96. Monthly, with four-month, eight-month, and annual cumulations. Available since 1980 on microfiche. Z4015.A96 015.94.

A national bibliography of Australian publications deposited for copyright in the National Library, as well as of some foreign works by Australian authors or about the country. At its demise ANB was published in four parts: a subject list organized by Dewey Decimal Classification (with full cataloging information for each entry); author, title, and series index; subject index; and list of periodicals. Both indexes cite classification rather than page. Once the fullest record of current Australian publications, ANB was absorbed by Libraries Australia (http://librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au/apps/kss [formerly Kinetica]) as part of the Australian National Bibliographic Database.

ANB continues the Annual Catalogue of Australian Publications, [1936–60], 25 vols. (Canberra: Natl. Lib. of Australia, 1937–61), a combined main entry and subject list of books deposited for copyright and foreign publications about Australia. Retrospective coverage is offered by Australian National Bibliography, 1901–1950, 4 vols. (Canberra: Natl. Lib. of Australia, 1988), which includes Australian imprints, as well as foreign publications by Australians or about the country.

Since works by ethnic writers were frequently not submitted for copyright, researchers must also consult the following:

The Multicultural research subset in AustLit (R4463).
Ethnic Writings in English from Australia: A Bibliography. 3rd ed. Adelaide: Australian Literary Studies, 1984. 124 pp. Adelaide ALS Working Papers.
Lumb, Peter, and Anne Hazell, eds. Diversity and Diversion: An Annotated Bibliography of Australian Ethnic Minority Literature. Richmond: Hodja, 1983. 123 pp.

R4470 edit

Ferguson, John Alexander. Bibliography of Australia. Facsimile ed. 7 vols. Canberra: Natl. Lib. of Australia, 1975–77. Addenda, 1784–1850 (Volumes I to IV). 1986. 706 pp. Z4011.F47 [DU96] 016.994.

A retrospective national bibliography covering 1784 to 1900 that attempts to record for the period 1784–1850 all Australian imprints as well as foreign publications “relating in any way” to the country; for the years 1851–1900, excludes belles lettres, periodicals, and governmental papers, as well as legal, scientific, technical, and certain ephemeral publications. Works by Australians published elsewhere and lacking a reference to the country are sometimes mentioned in notes. In vols. 1–4 (1784–1850), entries are organized by year of publication, then alphabetically by author, corporate author, or title of anonymous work; vols. 5–7 (1851–1900) consist of a single alphabetical list. Entries provide a transcription of title page; size; pagination; list of contents or description of content relating to Australia; publication information (if not on the title page); occasionally extensive notes on content, reprints and other editions, related scholarship, and bibliographical matters; and locations of copies (with a list of supplementary locations inserted in vols. 1–2 of the facsimile edition). Vol. 2 prints additions to 1; vol. 4, additions and corrections to 1–3. The Addenda incorporates these additions and corrections, adds new entries, revises some existing ones, and lists additional locations; the National Library no longer plans to publish addenda to vols. 5–7 and a cumulative index. Indexed by titles, authors, and corporate authors in each of the first four volumes. Book trade personnel are indexed in Ian Morrison, The Publishing Industry in Colonial Australia: A Name Index to John Alexander Ferguson’s Bibliography of Australia, 1784–1900 (Melbourne: Bibliog. Soc. of Australia and New Zealand, 1996; 162 pp.; BSANZ Occasional Pub. 6).

While the numerous omissions, errors, and inconsistencies make Ferguson untrustworthy as a descriptive bibliography, it remains the most complete guide to Australian literature through 1850; the record is continued, although less satisfactorily, to 1950 by Macartney, Australian Literature (R4475a). Review: Brian McMullen, Australian Library Journal 25.1 (1976): 39–40.

Books by female Australian writers are more thoroughly covered in Debra Adelaide, Bibliography of Australian Women’s Literature: A Listing of Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Non-fiction Published in Monograph Form Arranged Alphabetically by Author (Port Melbourne: Thorpe–Natl. Centre for Australian Studies, 1991; 270 pp.), an author list of about 11,500 titles culled, for the most part, from other sources rather than personal examination.

R4475 edit

Miller, E. Morris. Australian Literature from Its Beginnings to 1935: A Descriptive and Bibliographical Survey of Books by Australian Authors in Poetry, Drama, Fiction, Criticism, and Anthology with Subsidiary Entries to 1938. Facsimile rpt., with corrections and additions. 2 vols. Sydney: Sydney UP, 1975. Z4021.M5 016.82′08.

A bibliography of separately published works by Australian natives or residents who wrote or commenced at least one book in the country. Although the focus is belles lettres, the notes cite a substantial number of other books by philosophers, artists, historians, and scientists who published at least one literary work. Entries are organized by genre: poetry, drama, fiction, and criticism (with sections for essays and reviews; English, Australian, classical, and modern literature; anthologies and miscellanies). Within each section, authors are listed chronologically by date of first publication in the genre. A typical author entry consists of a list of separately published literary works (and some editions thereof) accompanied by bibliographical notes and, for fiction, a one- or two-sentence summary; references to scholarship, bibliographies, and manuscripts; reprints and excerpts in anthologies and some periodical contributions; and major nonliterary works. (The amount and organization of information vary from author to author, however.) Each genre division is prefaced by a lengthy historical introduction composed largely of biographical and critical discussions of authors. In the facsimile reprint, the separately issued additions and corrections appear on pp. 1075–78. An appendix lists novels associated with Australia by foreign authors. Three indexes: subjects of fiction; subjects of Australian literature and persons not in the general index of Australian authors; Australian authors.

Australian Literature: A Bibliography to 1938, extended to 1950 and ed. Frederick T. Macartney (Sydney: Angus, 1956; 503 pp.), extends coverage to 1950, incorporates Miller’s corrections and rearranges entries into a straightforward author list, but deletes nonbelletristic works, children’s books, translations, critical and scholarly works except those about Australian literature, anthologized reprints, contributions to periodicals, references to scholarship and bibliographies, introductions, and indexes. A few corrections and additions to the enlarged edition are listed in Clive Hamer, “‘Not in Miller,’” Meanjin 15.4 (1956): 419, which is followed by Miller’s brief description of his compilation of the original bibliography (pp. 420–21). Macartney’s defense of his reworking of Miller and rejoinder to several negative reviews (such as Russel Ward, Meanjin 15.2 [1956]: 212–14) make up An Odious Comparison: Considered in Its Relation to Australian Literature (Black Rock: Bulldozer Booklets, 1956; 15 pp.).

Although Macartney’s revision is more current and consolidates an author’s separately published literary works, the original edition includes much more complete information and provides some subject access. Together, the two offer the single fullest record of separately published Australian literary works from 1850 to 1950. Before 1850, more thorough and accurate coverage is offered by Ferguson, Bibliography of Australia (R4470), and the Bibliography of Australian Literature database (R4463a) is designed to supersede Miller and Macartney.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4480 edit

“Annual Bibliography of Studies in Australian Literature, [1963–2008].” Australian Literary Studies 1–24 (1964–2009). PR9400.A86 820′.9′994.

A selective list of studies of Australian literature, language, and area studies, along with “new books (with reviews of them) by contemporary writers whose work has attracted substantial discussion.” In several installments, electronic journals are not covered. In the bibliographies for 1989–92 (14–16 [1990–93]) coverage of most North American publications was ceded to Antipodes (see below), which—even after the bibliography for 1992—offers fuller coverage of North American publications. Entries—drawn partly from other bibliographies (the bibliography for 2008 is “derived directly from AustLit” [R4463])—are listed in two divisions: general studies and individual authors; some entries are accompanied by a brief annotation. Entries from the individual-authors division in the bibliographies for 1963–95 are cumulated and augmented in The ALS Guide to Australian Writers: A Bibliography, 1963–1995, 2nd ed., ed. Martin Duwell, Marianne Ehrhardt, and Carol Hetherington (Saint Lucia: Queensland UP, 1997; 489 pp.).

An essential complement is “Bibliography of Australian and New Zealand Literature and Criticism Published in North America, [1985– ],” Antipodes 3– (1989– ; title varies), whose unannotated entries are organized in two divisions: works by and about individual authors; general studies. Many of the entries are taken from other serial bibliographies, and there are gaps in coverage of years.

The “Annual Bibliography,” “Bibliography of Australian and New Zealand Literature,” and the Australia division of “Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature” (R4375) are primarily useful to researchers who lack access to AustLit (R4463).

Other Bibliographies edit

R4485 edit

Andrews, Barry G., and William H. Wilde. Australian Literature to 1900: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1980. 472 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 22. Z4021.A54 [PR9604.3] 016.82.

A selective, annotated bibliography of primary and secondary works (published through 1976) on Australian literature from 1788 to 1900. Andrews and Wilde include 72 authors who had significant work published before 1900 or who clearly belong to the 1890s, but they generally exclude publications not related to the country. The 1,576 entries—augmented by numerous others cited in annotations or headnotes—are organized in three divisions: general works (including sections for bibliographies, reference works, literary history and criticism, Australian English, nineteenth-century periodicals, and anthologies), individual authors (including a biographical headnote and sections for bibliographies, primary works—by genre, with a note on manuscript collections—and studies), and selected nonfiction (with sections for exploration, transportation, travel, history and biography, and literary and theatrical autobiographies). Although a work is entered only once, cross-references are provided in headnotes to sections. The typically full annotations are generally informative and frequently evaluative. Two indexes: persons; titles. Judicious selection, accuracy, and helpful annotations make this a valuable guide to the study of Australian literature before 1900. Reviews: L. T. Hergenhan, Australian Literary Studies 10.3 (1981): 137–39; Alan Lawson, Modern Language Review 78.3 (1983): 692–94.

R4488 edit

Ross, Robert L. Australian Literary Criticism, 1945–1988: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1989. 375 pp. Garland Reference Lib. of the Humanities 1075. Z4024.C8 R67 [PR9604.3] 016.82′09.

A selective annotated bibliography of English-language studies and anthologies (the majority published between 1945 and June 1988), dissertations abstracted in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (H465), and—incongruously—novels about the convict period. The 1,397 entries are organized by publication date in most of the seven classified divisions: general works, international views (including comparative studies), special topics (such as aborigines, fiction about the convict period, film, language, and women’s studies), fiction, poetry, drama, and 42 major writers (with sections for published books, special issues of journals, interviews, critical studies, and bibliographies). Although brief, the annotations generally offer an adequate description of content. Two indexes: scholars; literary authors and subjects; also indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565). The subject indexing is inadequate and the criteria governing selection are too vague; however, Ross offers a useful preliminary guide to criticism from 1945 through mid-1988 of Australian literature. Researchers must supplement coverage with other works in this Guides to Scholarship and Criticism section. Review: Ken Goodwin, World Literature Written in English 29.1 (1989): 85–87.

Language edit

Guides to Scholarship edit

See edit

ABELL (G340): Dialects section of the English Language division in the volumes for 1920–26; the English Dialects section in the volumes for 1927–72; the Dialects/Australia and New Zealand section in the volumes for 1973–84; the Dialects/Australasia section in the volumes for 1985–86; and the Dialects/Dialects of the Rest of the World section in later volumes.

Andrews and Wilde, Australian Literature to 1900 (R4485).

“Annual Bibliography of Studies in Australian Literature” (R4480).

Day, Modern Australian Prose, 1901–1975 (R4530).

MLAIB (G335): See the English I: Linguistics section through the volume for 1966; the Indo-European C: Germanic Linguistics IV: English/Modern English/Dialectology section in the volumes for 1967–80; and the Indo-European Languages/Germanic Languages/West Germanic Languages/English Language (Modern)/Dialectology section in later volumes. Researchers must also check the “Australian English Dialect” heading in the subject index to post-1980 volumes and in the online thesaurus.

Dictionaries edit

R4490 edit

The Australian National Dictionary: A Dictionary of Australianisms on Historical Principles (AND). Ed. W. S. Ramson. Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1988. 814 pp. <http://australiannationaldictionary.com.au>. PE3601.Z5 A865. (A new edition is in progress.)

A historical dictionary of terms distinctly or prominently Australian. The approximately 6,000 main entries provide pronunciation; part(s) of speech; variant spellings; a note on history and derivation, with a cross-reference, where appropriate, to the Oxford English Dictionary (M1410); definition(s) organized by part of speech; and illustrative quotations, arranged chronologically, for each definition. The online version can be searched or browsed by headword. AND is an essential complement to the Oxford English Dictionary and the indispensable source for the historical study of Australian English and explication of literary works by Australian writers. For the history of the AND, see Ramson, Lexical Images: The Story of the Australian National Dictionary (Victoria: Oxford UP, 2002; 255 pp.). Review: David Bradley, Australian Journal of Linguistics 9.1 (1989): 191–95.

The best treatment of colloquial language is G. A. Wilkes, A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, 4th ed. (Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1996; 426 pp.), with dated quotations accompanying definitions. Also useful is The Macquarie Dictionary, ed. Susan Butler, 5th ed. (Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary, 2009; 1,940 pp.; available online through Credo Reference [1] and at http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au).

Biographical Dictionaries edit

R4495 edit

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online (ADB Online). Australian National University. Australian Natl. U, 2006–13. 7 Jan. 2013. <http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm>. Updated regularly.

Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB). Douglas Pike, Bede Nairn, Geoffrey Serle, John Ritchie, Di Langmore, and Melanie Nolan, gen. eds. Carlton: Melbourne UP, 1966– . CT2802.A95 920.094. CD-ROM (vols. 1–12). <http://adb.anu.edu.au>.

Vols. 1–2: 1788–1850. 1966–67.
Vols. 3–6: 1851–90. 1969–76.
Vols. 7–12: 1891–1939. 1979–90.
Index: Volumes 1 to 12, 1788–1939. Ed. Hilary Kent. 1991. 326 pp.
Vols. 13–16: 1940–1980. 1993–2002.
Vols. 17–18: 1981–1990. 2007–2012.
Supplement, 1580–1980. Ed. Christopher Cunneen. 2005. 520 pp.

A biographical dictionary that includes entries on important and representative Australians. (Other than vetting by various committees, selection criteria are undefined.) Placement in vols. 1–12 is determined by the period of the individual’s most important work; placement in later volumes is by date of death. A typical entry summarizes basic biographical and career information and concludes with a brief list of important scholarship and unpublished papers. Separate lists of corrections are tipped in all volumes; those for vols. 1–12 are consolidated in the Index, which includes separate indexes for persons, places of birth, and occupations (superseded by ADB Online). H. J. Gibbney and Ann G. Smith, comps. and eds., A Biographical Register, 1788–1939: Notes from the Name Index of the Australian Dictionary of Biography , 2 vols. (Canberra: Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1987), is a more rudimentary index to individuals and their occupations (but provides basic biographical and bibliographical information on numerous individuals not in ADB). Names in vols. 1–16 and the first supplement are indexed in Supplement, 1580–1980. ADB Online renders superfluous Julie G. Marshall and Richard C. S. Trahair, Occupational Index to the Australian Dictionary of Biography (1788–1890), Volumes I–VI (Bundoora: Dept. of Sociology, La Trobe U, 1979; 139 pp.; La Trobe Working Papers in Sociology 43), and Occupational Index to the Australian Dictionary of Biography (1891–1939), Volumes VII–IX, A–Las (1985; 100 pp.; La Trobe Working Papers in Sociology 71). The National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University maintains a research file on each entrant and a biographical register with information on more than 300,000 persons not in the Dictionary; the register is being transformed into Obituaries Australia (http://oa.anu.edu.au), a digital archive.

As volumes are published, entries are incorporated into Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, which is adding portraits to entries, expanding the bibliographies, and providing hyperlinks. (Planned enhancements include links to digitized material, thematic essays, expanded bibliographies, an obituaries database, and “online research tools to track, enumerate and visualise social networks.”) Search offers simple keyword searches of personal names or the entire text. In Advanced Search, users can search by biographee, gender, date of birth, date of death, birthplace, place of death, ethnicity and religious affiliation, and occupation (users must work from a nested list and remember to click Add Term). Browse and Faceted Browse allow browsing by biographee, place of birth or death, date of birth or death, ethnicity, gender, occupation, religion, and contributor. Results—which can be sorted (in ascending or descending order) by surname, date of birth, or date of death—can be printed or downloaded only through a Web browser’s print or save commands. ADB Online allows for sophisticated retrieval of information in the standard general source for biographical information on Australians.

For persons not in ADB, consult Percival Serle, Dictionary of Australian Biography, 2 vols. (Sydney: Angus, 1949), and the current edition of Who’s Who in Australia (North Melbourne: Crown Content, 1922– ; annual; online as Who’s Who in Australia Live!).

Periodicals edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4500 edit

Stuart, Lurline. Australian Periodicals with Literary Content, 1821–1926: An Annotated Bibliography. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly, 2003. 178 pp. Z6962.A8 S78 [PN5517.P4].

A bibliography of periodicals (excluding newspapers) of some literary interest published in Australia through 1925. The 576 entries, arranged alphabetically by original title, include (when possible) title, subtitle, motto or epigraph, printer, publisher, editor(s), frequency, dates of publication and title changes, size, average number of pages, price, presence of illustrations, locations in Australian collections, description of content, and important writers and articles published. Concludes with a chronological list of periodicals. Indexed by persons, publishers, and printers. Although a subject index would greatly increase its usefulness, Stuart is the essential guide to identifying and locating these frequently scarce and ephemeral periodicals.

Genres edit

Some works in section L: Genres are useful for research in Australian literature.

Fiction edit

Some works in section L: Genres/Fiction are useful for research in Australian fiction.

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4525 edit

Torre, Stephen. The Australian Short Story, 1940–1980: A Bibliography. Sydney: Hale, 1984. 367 pp. Z4024.S5 T67 [PR9612.5] 016.823′01′08994.

An index to English-language short fiction (along with selected criticism) by writers born, resident in, or otherwise associated with Australia and first published between 1940 and 1980 in anthologies, single-author collections, or 12 major Australian periodicals. Torre excludes fiction for children and transcriptions of oral narratives, but otherwise defines “short story” broadly. The entries are organized in five divisions: an author bibliography of short stories and criticism (with sections for single-author collections, including the contents of each; individual short stories, with the publishing history of each in the periodicals, collections, and anthologies selected for indexing; anthologies and miscellanies edited by the author; other publications by the author that are of some importance to his or her short fiction; and critical studies, including reviews); a list of periodicals that publish short fiction by Australian authors, including the 12 selected for full indexing; a title list of anthologies and miscellanies indexed; a superfluous list of single-author collections indexed; and general studies of short stories and reference works, the bulk of which are on Australian short fiction. An appendix provides a chronological list of the journals that hosted Tabloid Story. Although the work is not comprehensive, especially for periodical fiction, and although much information is taken secondhand, Torre is the single best source for identifying Australian short stories and critical studies of them.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

R4530 edit

Day, A. Grove. Modern Australian Prose, 1901–1975: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1980. 462 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 29. Z4011.D38 [PR9604.3] 016.82.

A highly selective, annotated bibliography of primary and secondary works that also includes a brief section on drama. Limited to works (generally published between 1901 and 1975) about Australia by citizens and others resident in the country, Modern Australian Prose excludes some important publications by Australian authors. The general cutoff for studies is 1976 (although a few later publications are admitted). Entries are organized in four classified divisions: general works (with sections for bibliographies, reference works, literary history and criticism, Australian English, periodicals, and anthologies), fiction (organized by author, with sections under each for bibliographies, primary works, and criticism), nonfiction (a highly selective list organized by genre or topic and including a section on aborigines), and drama (with sections for bibliographies, studies, and primary works). Most of the annotations are adequately descriptive. Three indexes: scholars; book titles; subjects (including authors). Because of the degree of selectivity (recent authors are slighted) and numerous errors, Day is useful primarily as a starting point for research on prose. (The drama section, seemingly an afterthought, is completely inadequate.) Reviews: Laurie Hergenhan, Australian Literary Studies 10.3 (1982): 407–08; Alan Lawson, Modern Language Review 78.3 (1983): 692–94.

For fiction before 1901, see Andrews and Wilde, Australian Literature to 1900 (R4485). Supplement coverage with Rose Marie Beston and John B. Beston, “Critical Writings on Modern New Zealand and Australian Fiction: A Selected Checklist,” Modern Fiction Studies 27.1 (1981): 189–204; New, Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures (R4380); and “Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature” (R4375).

Drama and Theater edit

Some works in section L: Genres/Drama and Theater are useful for research in Australian drama and theater.

Histories and Surveys edit

R4535 edit

Love, Harold, ed. The Australian Stage: A Documentary History. Kensington: New South Wales UP with Australian Theatre Studies Centre School of Drama, U of New South Wales, 1984. 383 pp. PN3011.A97 792′.0994.

A collection of extracts from documents (including reviews, articles, autobiographies, manuscripts, illustrations, and photographs) that depict the history of the Australian stage to 1980. The emphasis is on Australian drama professionally produced in Sydney and Melbourne, with less attention to foreign language, amateur, and educational theater and excluding opera, film, and television. The heart of the work is the extensive extracts, which describe productions of both Australian and foreign plays. The extracts are organized chronologically in four periods (1788–1853, 1854–1900, 1901–50, and 1950–80), followed by a section reproducing pictorial documents depicting productions, theaters, sets, and performers. Each period begins with a summary of theatrical activity and includes one or two essays on aspects of the theater of the time (e.g., theater of the convict era, dramatic criticism from 1850 to 1890, Australian plays on Australian topics, vaudeville, state theater companies, and alternative theater). Most essays conclude with an evaluative guide to further reading, and the last section of the book is an extensive bibliography of studies of Australian theater. Indexed by persons, titles, and subjects. Valuable for its extensive documentation, this is the most trustworthy source of information on the Australian stage. More extensive but less factually reliable coverage of Australian drama is offered by Rees, History of Australian Drama (R4540). Review: Veronica Kelly, Australian Literary Studies 12.4 (1986): 546–50.

R4540 edit

Rees, Leslie. A History of Australian Drama. Rev. and enl. ed. 2 vols. Sydney: Angus, 1978–87. PR9611.2.R43 822′.009.

Vol. 1: The Making of Australian Drama from the 1830s to the Late 1960s. Rev. ed. 1978. 435 pp. (Rpt. of The Making of Australian Drama: A Historical and Critical Survey from the 1830s to the 1970s. 1973. 510 pp.)
Vol. 2: Australian Drama, 1970–1985. 1987. 400 pp. (Rev. of Australian Drama in the 1970s. 1978. 270 pp.)

A critical history of the development of Australian drama from the colonial period through 1985. Encompasses stage as well as radio and television plays by Australians, resident or not, and—in early chapters—about the country by foreign authors. The overall organization is chronological, with chapters devoted to types of plays, major authors, periods, movements, and topics. Among the various appendixes are, in vol. 1, a history of the Playwrights Advisory Board; in vol. 2, a chronology of selected plays published since 1936; chronological lists (by decade) of radio (since 1935) and television plays (since 1955) produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission; and a discussion of Australian noncommercial theaters. Vol. 2 concludes with a selective bibliography. Each volume is indexed by persons, titles, and topics. Although frequently unreliable in factual matters and impressionistic in judgment, Rees’s work represents the fullest history of the country’s drama.

More accurate but less thorough in covering Australian drama is Love, Australian Stage (R4535).

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

See edit

Day, Modern Australian Prose, 1901–1975 (R4530).

Poetry edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4545 edit

Webby, Elizabeth. Early Australian Poetry: An Annotated Bibliography of Original Poems Published in Australian Newspapers, Magazines, and Almanacks before 1850. Sydney: Hale, 1982. 332 pp. Z4008.P63 W42 [PR9610.4] 016.821.

A bibliography of original periodical verse. Entries are organized by Australian state, medium of publication, city, periodical, and then date of publication. A typical entry consists of title, author (if known) or pseudonym, date of publication, page, and a brief note on content. Indexed by poets and titles of newspapers, magazines, and almanacs. Webby is the essential source for identifying Australian periodical verse before 1850.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

There is no adequate guide to studies of Australian poetry. Herbert C. Jaffa, Modern Australian Poetry, 1920–1970: A Guide to Information Sources (Detroit: Gale, 1979; 241 pp.; Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 24)—which is not actually a guide to information sources—has too many omissions to serve even as a starting point. (For the multiple deficiencies of this work, see the review by Alan Lawson, Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography 5.2 [1981]: 130–34.)

Prose edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4550 edit

Walsh, Kay, and Joy Hooton. Australian Autobiographical Narratives: An Annotated Bibliography. 2 vols. Canberra: Australia Scholarly Editions Centre, Australian Defence Force Acad., and Natl. Lib. of Australia, 1993–98. Z5303.A8 W35 [CT2802] 016.920094.

An annotated bibliography of published autobiographies that treat life in Australia to 1900 (vol. 1 covers the beginnings to 1850; vol. 2, 1850–1900). Listed alphabetically by author, entries cite publication information (variously the first edition or the most accessible one), include a summary of the Australian content, and conclude with the date span and, if possible, a citation to the Australian Dictionary of Biography (R4495). Three indexes: names; places; subjects. The generous summaries make Australian Autobiographical Narratives an important resource for studies of Australian culture and for autobiography as a genre.

Canadian Literature edit

This section includes works devoted exclusively to Canadian literature (in whatever language). Many works in sections Q: American Literature and R: Other Literatures in English/General are also important to research in Canadian literature.

Guides to Reference Works edit

General Guides edit

R4555 edit

Canadian Reference Sources: An Annotated Bibliography: General Reference Works, History, Humanities / Ouvrages de référence canadiens: Une bibliographie annotée: Ouvrages de référence généraux, histoire, sciences humaines. Ed. and comp. Mary E. Bond. Comp. Martine M. Caron. Vancouver: UBC P, 1996. 1,076 pp. Z1365.B57 [F1008] 016.971.

A selective, annotated guide to reference sources available through January 1995 for Canadian topics. Entries are organized alphabetically by author, editor, or title of anonymous work in three extensively classified divisions: general reference works, history and related subjects, and humanities. The literature subdivision includes sections for general works, children’s literature, diaries and autobiographies, drama, fiction, film, poetry, and quotations (theater is included under performing arts). The linguistics subdivision includes sections for general works, Canadian English, and French and native languages. The annotations, in English and French, are descriptive. Four indexes: names; titles; subjects (English); subjects (French). Although researchers would benefit from more evaluative annotations and some refinements in organization (e.g., the literary history and criticism section mixes bibliographies and literary histories, and the alphabetic lists frequently separate related works), Canadian Reference Sources is the essential general guide to reference sources on Canadian topics.

Guide to Reference (B60) and New Walford Guide to Reference Resources (B65) list numerous Canadian reference sources.

Literature Guides edit

R4557 edit

Reznowski, Gabriella Natasha. Literary Research and Canadian Literature: Strategies and Sources. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2011. 211 pp. Lit. Research: Strategies and Sources 10. (Updates appear at http://www.literaryresearchseries.org.) PR9184.3.R49 810.9′971072.

A guide to research strategies and reference sources for the scholar working with Canadian literature in both French and English. Following an admirably clear explanation of the basics of online searching are chapters on general literary reference sources; library catalogs; print and electronic bibliographies, indexes, and annual reviews; scholarly journals; periodicals, newspapers, and literary magazines; microform and digital collections; manuscripts and archives; and Web resources. The last chapter demonstrates how to use many of the works and strategies previously discussed to develop a research plan (with the critical reception of Morley Callaghan serving as an example). An appendix lists sources in related disciplines. Several chapters include reference works devoted to single authors. Three indexes: author; title; subject. Describing fully the uses of kinds of reference tools, providing illuminating examples in discussions of key individual resources (with due attention to issues of citizenship, ethnicity, and hybridity involved in defining Canadian), detailing techniques for finding kinds of information, illustrating research processes, and perpetuating the high standards reflected by the other volumes in the series, Literary Research and Canadian Literature is the essential starting point for anyone working with the literature of Canada.

Joseph Jones, Reference Sources for Canadian Literary Studies (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2005; 464 pp.), covers many of the same resources but focuses on Canadian literature in English (with selective coverage of resources for other languages); interprets “reference work,” “Canadian,” and “literature” broadly; includes too many descriptions that are too brief to offer any sense of a work’s importance to research in Canadian literature (e.g., the description of ABELL); gives space to many superseded or elementary works (e.g., entries D-004 and D-005); adheres rigidly to a reverse chronological order within most subdivisions that separates supplements from their parent works; and provides an utterly inadequate subject index.

Histories and Surveys edit

For a history of Canadian literary histories through the mid-1990s and analysis of their political, national, ideological, and theoretical underpinnings, see E. D. Blodgett, Five-Part Invention: A History of Literary History in Canada (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2003; 371 pp.).

R4560 edit

Grandpré, Pierre de, ed. Histoire de la littérature française du Québec. Corrected rpt. 4 vols. Montréal: Beauchemin, 1971–73. PQ3917.G7 840.

A collaborative history of French-language literature from 1534 to the 1960s, with three of the volumes devoted to the twentieth century. Organized chronologically, with chapters on intellectual and social life, genres, history, journalism, the essay, and literary criticism, the volumes emphasize historical and intellectual contexts. Two indexes in each volume: persons; titles. Vol. 4 concludes with a selective bibliography of studies on French Canadian literature. Despite poor organization and inconsistency in the quality of chapters, Grandpré offers the fullest history of French Canadian literature. Reviews: (vol. 1) David M. Hayne, Canadian Historical Review 49.4 (1968): 415–16; (vols. 2–4) Hayne, Canadian Historical Review 51.4 (1970): 459–61.

R4565 edit

Literary History of Canada: Canadian Literature in English. Carl F. Klinck and W. H. New, gen. eds. Corrected rpt. of 2nd ed. 4 vols. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1976–90. PR9184.3.K5 810′.9′005.

A critical history, from the seventeenth century to 1984, of English Canadian literature. Chapters, usually by major scholars, treat philosophy, history, the social and natural sciences, religion, literary criticism and scholarship, travel writing, translation, publishing and the book trade, and children’s literature, as well as fiction, poetry, and drama. Some include a highly selective bibliography. Vols. 1–3 conclude with a very brief general bibliography; each volume has an index of names, anonymous works, and subjects (vol. 4 cites all titles). The volumes comprise the most comprehensive history of English Canadian literature, although belles lettres are frequently overshadowed by the extensive treatment accorded nonliterary topics (especially in vol. 3). Reviews: John Ferns, Modern Language Review 74.1 (1979): 186–88; W. J. Keith, University of Toronto Quarterly 46.4 (1977): 461–66.

Good complements are W. J. Keith, Canadian Literature in English (London: Longman, 1985; 287 pp.; Longman Lit. in English Ser.), which emphasizes major writers and concludes with a useful chronology and selective bibliography; W. H. New, A History of Canadian Literature, 2nd ed. (Montreal: McGill–Queen’s UP, 2003; 464 pp.), which also concludes with a chronology and selective bibliography; and The Cambridge History of Canadian Literature, ed. Coral Ann Howells and Eva-Marie Kröller (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2009; 753 pp.; online through Cambridge Histories Online [2]), which includes essays on periods, genres, groups, and a few major authors.

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4567 edit

Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Ed. William H. New. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2002. 1,347 pp. PR9180.2.E64 810.9′971′03.

An encyclopedia of literatures, written and oral, in Canada, with entries on writers, awards and prizes, motifs, genres, events, places, regions, groups, periodicals, organizations, institutions, allusions, and a very select few individual works. While the bulk of the entries (which inconsistently conclude with suggestions for further reading) are for individuals, topics not usually encountered in literary encyclopedias are also given their due, such as archives, book history, editors and editing, libraries, and publishing industry. Concludes with a chronology and three indexes: contributors; authors; persons and subjects not accorded separate entries. Although many entries for common literary terms (e.g., allusion, burlesque, lyric, prosody) should be jettisoned, others (e.g., Bloomsbury Group, muscular Christianity, renga) strain to make a Canadian connection, and there are a substantial number of misprints and errors in dates, the breadth and depth of coverage make Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada an important desktop companion to the literary culture of the country. Reviews: Stephen Henighan, TLS: Times Literary Supplement 19 Sept. 2003: 26; John J. O’Connor, University of Toronto Quarterly 73.1 (2003–04): 161–62.

The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature, Eugene Benson and William Toye, gen. eds., 2nd ed. (Toronto: Oxford UP, 1997; 1,199 pp.; online through Oxford Reference [I530]), remains a useful complement. The approximately 1,100 signed entries primarily treat authors and genres, emphasize modern literature (mostly French and English), and are more extensive, evaluative, and exclusively literary than in the typical Oxford Companion. As in Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada, author entries combine biographical and bibliographical information with critical commentary. Review: Colin Hill, Essays on Canadian Writing 65 (1998): 76–81.

R4570 edit

Dictionnaire des œuvres littéraires du Québec. Ed. Maurice Lemire et al. 8 vols. Saint Laurent: Fides, 1980–2011. PQ3901.D5 840′.9.

Vol. 1: Des origines à 1900. 2nd ed., rev. and corrected. 1980. 927 pp.
Vol. 2: 1900–1939. 1980. 1,363 pp.
Vol. 3: 1940–1959. 1982. 1,252 pp.
Vol. 4: 1960–1969. 1984. 1,123 pp.
Vol. 5: 1970–1975. 1987. 1,133 pp.
Vol. 6: 1976–1980. 1994. 1,087 pp.
Vol. 7: 1981–1985. 2003. 1,229 pp.
Vol. 8: 1986–1990. 2011. 1,151 pp.

A dictionary of literary works by Québec authors or related to the province. Organized by title, the signed entries, which range from 250 to 3,000 words, typically provide a summary, discussion of the work’s place in its author’s canon, critical commentary, and (sometimes lengthy) lists of editions and studies. A brief biographical notice precedes the entry for an author’s first work. Each volume includes a chronology; selective bibliographies of literary works, reference works, and critical studies; and an index of persons. The entries vary in quality, of course, but the Dictionnaire offers impressively thorough coverage of the bulk of French Canadian literature through 1990. Reviews: (vol. 4) B.-Z. Shek, University of Toronto Quarterly 54.4 (1985): 471–74; (vol. 5) Shek, University of Toronto Quarterly 59.1 (1989): 172–75; (vol. 7) Marcel Olscamp, University of Toronto Quarterly 76.1 (2007): 61–64.

R4575 edit

Hamilton, Robert M., and Dorothy Shields. The Dictionary of Canadian Quotations and Phrases. Rev. and enl. ed. Toronto: McClelland, 1979. 1,063 pp. PN6081.H24 818′.02.

A dictionary of about 10,300 quotations and phrases from Canadian sources (and some British, French, and American ones) on distinctly Canadian topics, as well as by Canadians about other subjects. Organized by subject, then chronologically under a heading, an entry consists of quotation and citation to a printed source. Indexed by authors. To locate cross-references, users must consult the prefatory list of subject headings. This is the best source for locating and identifying Canadian quotations.

An essential complement is John Robert Colombo, The Dictionary of Canadian Quotations (Toronto: Stoddart, 1991; 671 pp.), the majority of whose 6,000 quotations date from 1970 and reportedly are not in any other dictionary. The quotations are organized by topic; notes on sources neglect to cite page number, however. Indexed by author or speaker.

Bibliographies of Bibliographies edit

R4585 edit

Ingles, Ernie, ed. and comp. Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies / Bibliographie des bibliographies canadiennes. 3rd ed., updated, rev., and enl. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1994, 1,178 pp. Z1365.A1 I54 016.016971.

A bibliography of bibliographies—including periodical articles and theses—from 1789 to mid-1993 that have “substantial Canadian content or interest.” The 7,375 entries are listed chronologically by date of publication (then alphabetically) in seven divisions: general bibliographies, geographic areas, arts and humanities (including sections for performing arts, literature, children’s literature, and linguistics and translation), social sciences (including sections for women’s, native, and ethnic studies), sciences, types of bibliographies (which includes a fair number of works that should be included in the preceding subject divisions), and catalogs (though other catalogs appear in the preceding subject divisions). A typical entry provides a bibliographical citation, notes (on content, scope, number of entries, and previous editions), and location of at least one copy. Three indexes: authors; titles; subjects (with separate ones for English and French headings). Concludes with a “short entry listing”—a list, by author or title of anonymous work, of all 7,375 entries—that merely wastes a substantial amount of paper and contributes to the unwieldy size of the volume. Although access is marred by the use of both subject and type-of-document organization, Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies is a substantial improvement over the second edition (Douglas Lochhead, comp., Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies / Bibliographie des bibliographies canadiennes [Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1972; 312 pp.]), which absurdly admitted a number of works that had nothing to do with Canada simply because they were by Canadians or published in the country. Impressively broad and comprehensive, Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies is an essential starting point for research on Canadian topics. Review: Linda M. Jones, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 33.1 (1995): 189–92.

For more recent bibliographies, see Bibliographic Index (D145).

Guides to Primary Works edit

Manuscripts edit

R4590 edit

Archives Canada: Canadian Archival Information Network / Réseau canadien d’information archivistique. Canadian Council of Archives/Conseil canadien des archives, n.d. 2 Feb. 2013. <http://www.archivescanada.ca/index2.html>. Updated regularly.

A database of archival collections housed in Canadian institutions. The Basic Search mode allows users to search by keyword anywhere or in the title, provenance, Archives Canada record number, or collection title fields. In Advanced Search, users can limit combined keyword searches of several additional fields (e.g., scope and content note, repository name) by province or territory. Search results (a maximum of 500) are returned in descending Archives Canada record number order but can be re-sorted by collection title; records can be saved to a list for e-mailing. A typical record includes record number, collection title, physical description of the collection, dates of holdings, administrative history (for organizations) or biographical sketch (for individuals), notes on scope and content, repository (with a link to the repository’s Web site), restrictions on access, terms governing use and reproduction, finding aids (with a link to online ones), language, history of the collection, indication whether additions may be made, miscellaneous notes, provenance (i.e., name of the creator of the records), shelf mark, and subjects. Users must remember that this is a database of collections (not individual manuscripts), that the sophistication and accuracy of descriptions vary depending on the reporting institution, and that in large collections individual writers, especially of letters, go unmentioned in the description.

Essential complements to Archives Canada are

ArchiviaNet. Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et archives Canada. Lib. and Archive Canada–Bibliothèque et archives Canada, n.d. 8 Jan. 2013. <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet>. This offers access to some individual manuscripts; however, the site is being phased out.
Union List of Manuscripts in Canadian Repositories / Catalogue collectif des manuscrits des archives canadiennes. Ed. E. Grace Maurice. Rev. ed. 2 vols. Ottawa: Public Archives, 1975. Supplements (with French title as Catalogue collectif des manuscrits conservés dans les dépôts d’archives canadiennes): 1976. 1976. 322 pp. 1977–1978. 1979. 236 pp. 1979–1980. Ed. Grace Maurice Hyam. 1982. 243 pp. 1981–1982. Ed. Peter Yurkiw. 1985. 616 pp. A union list of significant collections of manuscripts and records held by Canadian institutions. Entries are listed alphabetically by the author or corporate body who created or accumulated the collection. A typical entry includes location, a brief description of content, size, dates covered, and, when necessary, restrictions on use and finding lists or other aids. Two indexes: repositories; names, corporate bodies, places, and selected subjects mentioned in annotations. As is usual in other national union lists of manuscripts, the sophistication and accuracy of descriptions vary depending on the reporting institution, and in large collections individual writers, especially of letters, go unmentioned in the annotations (and thus in the index). Since this work is a list of collections (with only a few entries for individual manuscripts), users searching for writings by an author should begin with the name, place, and subject index. This remains useful since Archives Canada and ArchiviaNet apparently do not index everything in the Union List.

Printed Works edit

R4595 edit

Canadiana: The National Bibliography / La bibliographie nationale. Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et archives Canada. Lib. and Archive Canada–Bibliothèque et archives Canada, n.d. 8 Jan. 2013. <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/amicus/index-e.html>; <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canadiana/index-e.html>.

A database of Canadian imprints and foreign publications (printed and electronic, published and forthcoming) that were written by Canadian citizens and residents or that are of Canadian interest. Canadiana records are now accessible through Library and Archive Canada’s AMICUS database, but there is no way to restrict a search only to those records; instead, one can do the following: in Registered Service/My Profile/Default Database, select National Library Collections and add the limiter “AND cci 1” after the search term(s) in the Command Search box. Coverage depends heavily on copyright deposits and acquisitions by the National Library; films and some ephemeral material are excluded. Since this incorporates the print version of Canadiana: Canada’s National Bibliography / La bibliographie nationale du Canada (Ottawa: Natl. Lib. of Canada, 1951–2000) and Canadiana Pre-1901: Monographs / Canadiana d’avant 1901: Monographies (Ottawa: Natl. Lib. of Canada, 1980–94; title varies) as well as records from Early Canadiana (Ottawa: Canadian Inst. for Historical Microreproductions, 1980– ; http://canadiana.org/ECO), coverage for 1920–49 is not very thorough. (For a discussion of changes in scope in the early print volumes, see Dorothy E. Ryder, Canadian Reference Sources: A Selective Guide, 2nd ed. [Ottawa: Canadian Lib. Assn., 1981] 235–39.) Although not exhaustive (especially for foreign imprints relating to the country), Canadiana offers the fullest coverage of recent Canadian imprints and is a useful source of books about Canadian topics.

Earlier coverage is offered by Dorothea D. Tod and Audrey Cordingley, comps., A Check List of Canadian Imprints / Catalogue d’ouvrages imprimés au Canada, 1900–1925: Preliminary Checking Edition / Liste à vérifier (Ottawa: Canadian Bibliog. Centre and Public Archives of Canada, 1950; 370 pp.), and by The Canadian Catalogue of Books Published in Canada, about Canada, as Well as Those Written by Canadians, [1921–49], 28 nos. (Toronto: Toronto Public Lib., 1923–50). A cumulation of listings for English-language titles in the latter was published as The Canadian Catalogue of Books Published in Canada, about Canada, as Well as Those Written by Canadians, with Imprint, 1921–1949, 2 vols. (Toronto: Toronto Public Lib., 1959). For additional retrospective bibliographies, see Canadian Reference Sources (R4555), pp. 28–47.

R4605 edit

Lecker, Robert, and Jack David, eds. The Annotated Bibliography of Canada’s Major Authors (ABCMA). 8 vols. Toronto: ECW, 1979–94. Z1375.A56 [PR9184.3] 016.81.

A collection of author bibliographies of works by and about important English Canadian and French Canadian writers, with half of the volumes devoted to poets and half to prose writers. Each volume attempts comprehensive coverage (up to one to three years before publication) of primary works (all editions, reprints, translations, excerpts, audiovisual materials, manuscripts, but only selected contributions to anthologies) and secondary materials. The overall organization is chronological. Under primary works, separate publications—classified by genre, form, or medium—appear first (with later editions and translations listed under the first edition), followed by manuscripts (by collection, with a description of contents), then other publications (by type or form). Secondary works—accompanied by descriptive annotations—are classified by form: books, articles and parts of books, theses and dissertations, interviews, awards and honors, and selected reviews. Through vol. 3 an introduction to each author offers a cursory survey of criticism and a necessary discussion of limitations in coverage. Each author section is separately indexed by persons. Numerous reviewers have objected to the choice of major authors and to the poetry and prose division. The individual bibliographies vary widely in accuracy, and many are far short of the comprehensive coverage (especially for secondary works) the editors claim for the work; moreover, there is rarely any logic to groupings in volumes, and inconsistencies abound. However, ABCMA is an important contribution to Canadian literary scholarship and an essential starting point for research on many of the authors. Several bibliographies have been reprinted as volumes in the Canadian Author Bibliographies series. Reviews: (vol. 1) David Jackel, Canadian Literature 88 (1981): 147–50; Donald Stephens, English Studies in Canada 8.1 (1982): 96–100; (vol. 2) R. G. Moyles, Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography 6.1 (1982): 49–51; (vols. 1–2) D. G. Lochhead, Canadian Poetry 9 (1981): 100–03, with a reply by Lecker and David, 10 (1982): 132–36, and a response by Lochhead, 136–37; (vol. 3) Terry Goldie, Canadian Literature 96 (1983): 153–55; (vols. 5–6) David Staines, Literary Research 11.2-3 (1986): 188–91.

R4610 edit

“Letters in Canada / Lettres canadiennes, [1935– ].” University of Toronto Quarterly 5 (1936)– . AP5.U55 378.1.

An annual selective review of English Canadian and French Canadian literary, critical, and scholarly works. Beginning with vol. 56 (1986–87), one issue is devoted entirely to the survey. Separate signed essays examine fiction, poetry, drama, and translations; the humanities section now consists of individual signed reviews of critical and scholarly books by Canadian authors on a wide range of topics and national literatures. The early surveys include selective checklists of titles. Indexed by books reviewed. For the history of “Letters in Canada,” see W. J. Keith and B.-Z. Shek, “A Half-Century of UTQ,” University of Toronto Quarterly 50.1 (1980): 146–54. Although selective in coverage, “Letters in Canada” is the best annual evaluative survey of books by Canadians.

R4613 edit

Miska, John. Ethnic and Native Canadian Literature: A Bibliography. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1990. 445 pp. Z1376.E87 M57 016.8088′9971.

A partly annotated bibliography of literary works by and studies about the literature of native peoples and Canadian immigrants (excluding those from the United States, France, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand), as well as some Canadian-born authors writing in languages other than English or French. Coverage of literary works is limited to separately published books of fiction, poetry, or drama written as late as 1989 while the author resided in Canada. The 5,497 entries are organized in three divisions: reference works (with sections for bibliographies, general book-length studies, general articles and review essays, and anthologies; within each, the briefly annotated entries are listed alphabetically by author); 65 national or language groups (listed alphabetically, each group begins, where appropriate, with lists of reference works, general studies, and anthologies; sections on individual authors follow, with each typically including a biographical note and separate lists of books by and writings about the author); minorities in Canadian literature (with sections for immigrants and native peoples, each with separate annotated lists of secondary and primary works). Indexed by authors and subjects. Although lacking any statement about the terminal date of coverage, inconsistent in defining “ethnic” and “native,” limited to separately published literary works, and overlooking some studies, Miska is the essential starting place for research on the ethnic and native literatures of Canada. Scholars must, however, consult both MLAIB (G335) and ABELL (G340) to identify additional studies. Review: Joanne Henning, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 30.1 (1992): 61–62.

R4615 edit

Tremaine, Marie. A Bibliography of Canadian Imprints, 1751–1800. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1952. 705 pp. Z1365.T7 015.71.

Fleming, Patricia Lockhart, and Sandra Alston. Early Canadian Printing: A Supplement to Marie Tremaine’s A Bibliography of Canadian Imprints, 1751–1800 . Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1999. 629 pp. Z1365.T7 015.71.

A retrospective national bibliography of Canadian imprints (including newspapers and magazines) from 1751 through 1800. The 1,240 entries of the 1952 volume are divided in two parts. The first is devoted to books, pamphlets, broadsides, handbills, and other separately printed matter. Organized by year of printing, then alphabetically by author, corporate author, or title of anonymous work, the detailed entries consist of a quasi-facsimile transcription of the title page; collation; list of contents; extensive notes on the printer, author, subject matter, advertisements, printing or publishing records, related scholarship, and post-1800 editions; and locations in public and private collections. The second part lists newspapers by province and then magazines. Each entry provides thorough notes on printing and publishing history and a list of locations with exact holdings. Concludes with descriptions of Canadian printing offices. Thoroughly indexed by authors, titles, subjects, and types of printed matter.

The Supplement extends the scope to “all the products of the press” in updating Tremaine’s entries, verifying locations, describing publications unknown to her (altering some of Tremaine’s practices to accord with the current conventions of analytical bibliography), and transcribing records of the Brown-Neilson printing shop and printers’ vouchers in the Audited Public Accounts. The five indexes (names; titles; genres, languages, and subjects; printers; copies located) cover both the Supplement and the original volume (except for the chapters on newspapers and magazines and on printing offices and biographical notes on printers).

The detailed, careful descriptions of both volumes and the expanded scope of the Supplement make Bibliography of Canadian Imprints and Early Canadian Printing the essential record of Canadian imprints and publishing history for the latter half of the eighteenth century.

Coverage is both supplemented and continued by Fleming, Upper Canadian Imprints, 1801–1841: A Bibliography (Toronto: U of Toronto P–Natl. Lib. of Canada–Canadian Government Publishing Centre, 1988; 555 pp.) and Atlantic Canadian Imprints, 1801–1820: A Bibliography (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1991; 189 pp.), whose admirably detailed entries include a quasi-facsimile transcription of the title page; collation; list of contents and illustrations; details of paper, typography, and binding; notes on authorship or publishing history; copies examined; and references to standard bibliographies. Newspapers, journals, and unlocated publications are listed in appendixes in Upper Canadian Imprints; Atlantic Canadian Imprints includes a single appendix for unlocated imprints. Six indexes: names; titles; genres and subjects; trades; places of publication; languages. Thoroughness and attention to detail make these admirable bibliographies important contributions to the retrospective national bibliography of Canadian imprints.

R4620 edit

Watters, Reginald Eyre. A Checklist of Canadian Literature and Background Materials, 1628–1960. 2nd ed., rev. and enl. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1972. 1,085 pp. Z1375.W3 013′.971.

A bibliography of separately published English Canadian literary and related works by some 7,000 Canadian authors (with “Canadian” broadly inclusive). The approximately 16,000 titles are organized alphabetically by author in two parts. Pt. 1 is meant to be a comprehensive list of literary works, with entries divided among sections for poetry, poetry and prose mixed, fiction, and drama. Pt. 2 is a selective list of books important as backgrounds to Canadian literature, with entries grouped by topics: biography, essays and speeches, local history and description, religion and morality, social history, scholarship and criticism on literature and the humanities, and travel and description. In both parts, works published before 1951 are located in up to five libraries (primarily in Canada). Two indexes: titles of anonymous works; authors, initials, and pseudonyms. Users must remember that (1) this is a list of works, not an exhaustive bibliography of editions; (2) there are numerous errors and inconsistencies, since the majority of entries were compiled from library catalogs and other sources rather than personal examination of copies; (3) pt. 2 includes several works only marginally related to Canadian literature; (4) the reliance on library call numbers to identify genre or subject matter means there will be classification errors. Although unsophisticated as a bibliography, Watters offers the fullest record of English Canadian literature. Reviews: (1st ed.) H. P. Gundy, Queen’s Quarterly 66.2 (1959): 326–28; (2nd ed.) Robert L. McDougall, Queen’s Quarterly 81.1 (1974): 120–22; Peter C. Noel-Bentley, Humanities Association Review 24.4 (1973): 340–41.

For literary works, Watters supersedes Vernon Blair Rhodenizer, Canadian Literature in English (Montreal: Privately printed, 1965; 1,055 pp.), a poorly organized compilation of miscellaneous information on books by Canadian citizens and residents that must be used with Lois Mary Thierman, comp., Index to Vernon Blair Rhodenizer’s Canadian Literature in English (Edmonton: La Survivance, [1968]; 469 pp.). For post-1960 works, see Canadiana (R4595). Wagner, Brock Bibliography of Published Canadian Plays (R4725), provides fuller coverage of drama but does not list locations.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4630 edit

Canadian Literary Periodicals Index: Cumulative Index to [1992, 1997] Publications. Teeswater: Reference, 1997–98. Annual. Z1375.C36 016.81′05. (The online version is no longer available.)

An author, subject, and title index to literary materials published in Canadian literary periodicals (96 in number at its demise, with the majority in English). Book reviews are indexed by reviewer, author, and title of book reviewed and listed by title under headings for kinds of books reviewed (e.g., “Anthologies—Reviews”); poems, plays, and short stories are indexed by author and listed by title under headings for each of the genres; subject headings are all in English. Modeled after the short-lived Canadian Literature Index, Canadian Literary Periodicals Index scraps the former’s two-part structure, improves its subject indexing, and intends to be more current, but like its predecessor it is vague about what constitutes “Canadian” and is limited in coverage. Nonetheless, it could have filled an important gap in the indexing of Canadian literature.

Three important serial bibliographies for earlier scholarship are

Canadian Literature Index: A Guide to Periodicals and Newspapers, [1985–88]. Toronto: ECW, 1987–92. Canadian Index Ser. Quarterly, with annual cumulation. An index of creative works by Canadian authors, studies of Canadian literary works, and reviews of books by Canadians and about the country’s literature—all published in some 100 periodicals and newspapers, the majority of which originate in Canada. The entries are organized in two parts: an author list of publications indexed and a subject list, with headings for writers, literary works, and some topics (with subject heads in English only). Vague titles are usually accompanied by a phrase indicating content. Despite Canadian Literature Index’s drawbacks—it lacks an explanation of the criteria used to determine “Canadian,” needlessly separates literary works from their authors in the subject division (a practice that occasions unnecessary duplicate entries), employs subject headings that are usually too broad, is limited in coverage and appeared about four years after the date of coverage—it was a welcome addition to Canadian reference sources.
“Canadian Literature / Littérature canadienne, [1959–74]: An Annotated Bibliography/Une bibliographie avec commentaire,” [for 1959–70] Canadian Literature / Littérature canadienne 3–48 (1960–71); [for 1971] Essays on Canadian Writing 9 (1977–78): 190–326; [for 1972–74] Journal of Canadian Fiction 2–23 (1973–79). A bibliography of primary and secondary works (including dissertations, theses, and reviews) related to English Canadian and French Canadian literature. The bibliographies for 1959–63 are cumulated and slightly expanded in Inglis F. Bell and Susan W. Port, eds., Canadian Literature, 1959–1963: A Checklist of Creative and Critical Writings / Littérature canadienne, 1959–1963: Bibliographie de la critique et des œuvres d’imagination (Vancouver: U of British Columbia, 1966; 140 pp.).
Bibliography of Comparative Studies in Canadian, Québec, and Foreign Literatures / Bibliography d’études comparées des littératures canadiennes, québécoise et étrangères. Département des lettres et communications, U de Sherbrooke, n.d. 8 Jan. 2013. <http://compcanlit.usherbrooke.ca/index.html>. Updated regularly. A database of publications (since c. 1930) that “contain a significant comparison or discussion of Canadian and/or Québécois literatures, including their production, reception, study, histories, effects and influences, in relation to each other, or each or both in relation to other literatures of the world.” Although the Web site offers no explanation of the scope, editorial principles underlying the selection of documents, frequency of updating (the newest records as of early 2013 are dated 2008), or record structure, much of the data is drawn from Antoine Sirois et al., Bibliography of Comparative Studies in Canadian, Québec, and Foreign Literatures / Bibliographie d’études comparées des littératures canadienne, québécoise et étrangères, 1930–1995 (Sherbrooke: U de Sherbrook–Editions GGC, 2001)—which expands and updates A. Sirois, Jean Vigneault, Maria van Sundert, and David M. Hayne, Bibliography of Studies in Comparative Canadian Literature, 1930–1987 / Bibliographie d’études de littérature canadienne comparée, 1930–1987 (Sherbrooke: Département des Lettres et Communications, U de Sherbrooke, 1989; 130 pp.; Cahiers de littérature canadienne comparée 1), itself a cumulation and expansion of “Preliminary Bibliography of Comparative Canadian Literature (English-Canadian and French-Canadian),” Canadian Review of Comparative Literature / Revue canadienne de littérature comparée 3–13 (1976–86), but which omits the divisions for translation and language and style included in the annual bibliography through vol. 14 (1987)—Sirois and Sundert, “Supplementary Bibliography of Comparative Canadian Literature (English-Canadian and French-Canadian): First Supplement, 1988–1989,” Canadian Review of Comparative Literature 16 (1989): 170–76; and Sirois et al., “Supplementary Bibliography of Comparative Canadian Literature (English-Canadian and French-Canadian): 2nd Supplement, 1990–95 / Bibliographie de la littérature canadienne comparée (Littératures canadienne-anglaise et canadienne-française): 2e supplément, 1990–95,” 23 (1996): 126–38. The records—which include fields for author; title; publication information; index terms; and authors, translators, and geographic areas discussed—can be searched in Advanced Search by titles, authors, keywords, or geographic areas discussed; searches can be limited by form (e.g., interviews, biographical dictionaries), subject, language, and date of publication. Basic Search offers a simple keyword search. Records are sorted in descending chronological order and can be marked for printing, downloading, or e-mailing. For studies of translations, see Kathy Mezei, Bibliography of Criticism on English and French Literary Translations in Canada, 1950–1986: Annotated / Bibliographie de la critique des traductions littéraires anglaises et françaises au Canada de 1950 à 1986: Avec commentaires (Ottawa: U of Ottawa P and Canadian Federation for the Humanities, 1988; 177 pp.; Cahiers de traductologie 7); however, the volume is awkwardly organized by type of publication (e.g., books, interviews, review essays, reviews, theses); records have been incorporated into the Bibliography of Comparative Studies database.

R4635 edit

CPI.Q. Gale–Cengage Learning. Gale-Cengage, n.d. 31 Dec. 2014. <http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/facts/cpiq.pdf>.

Canadian Periodical Index: An Author and Subject Index / Index de périodiques canadiens: Un index auteurs/sujets (CPI). Detroit: Gale, 1928–32, 1938–2003. Monthly, with annual and larger cumulations. Former titles: Canadian Periodical Index (1928–47); Canadian Index to Periodicals and Documentary Films: An Author and Subject Index / Index de périodiques et de films documentaires canadiens: Auteurs et sujets (1948–63). AI3.C242 051.

An index to reviews, original literary works, and articles with significant Canadian content in some 415 (as of July 2005) scholarly and popular periodicals and newspapers published in Canada (along with a few United States publications that treat North American or international topics). Selection is largely determined by subscribers. Entries since 1988 (along with content from other Gale databases) can be searched through CPI.Q; full-text coverage begins in 1995. The database can be searched in four modes: Basic Search (keyword search); Advanced Search (searches of a variety of record fields [e.g., subject, author, title, place-name, document type] can be limited to full-text documents, peer-reviewed sources, documents with images, publications from Canada, and document types and by date, publication title, and subject); Browse Subjects; and Browse Publications. Records can be sorted only by date (descending) or relevance.

The print version is an author and subject index. Subject headings are in English (with French-language cross-references; all headings and cross-references are listed in the current edition of Canadian Thesaurus / Thésaurus canadien). Articles are usually indexed under only one subject heading; book reviews are grouped under “Book Reviews”; poems appear under “Poems”; short stories, under “Short Stories”; and art works, under the name of the artist. Like Readers’ Guide (G400), which it resembles, this series is useful for its coverage of periodicals not indexed in the bibliographies and indexes in this section and in section G.

Other Bibliographies edit

R4643 edit

Dionne, René, and Pierre Cantin. Bibliographie de la critique de la littérature québécoise et canadienne-française dans les revues canadiennes, [1760–1899, 1974–1978, 1979–1982, 1983–1984]. 4 vols. Ottawa: P de l’U d’Ottawa, 1988–94. Histoire littéraire du Québec et du Canada français. Z1377.F8 D56 016.8409′971.

Cantin, Pierre, Normand Harrington, and Jean-Paul Hudon. Bibliographie de la critique de la littérature québécoise dans les revues des XIXe and XXe siècles. 5 vols. Ottawa: Centre de Recherche en Civilisation Canadienne-Française, U d’Ottawa, 1979. Documents de travail du Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-française 12–16. Z1377.F8 C36 [PQ3901] 016.84′09.

Bibliographies of articles on French Canadian literature published in Canadian periodicals. The unannotated entries are listed alphabetically within year of publication in three classified divisions: general studies; genres; individual authors. Three indexes: scholars; journals covered; chronology (a useless agglomeration rendered superfluous by the chronological organization). The bibliographies covering 1974–83 cumulate and expand the articles (but not books) included in “Bibliographie de la critique [1974–83],” Revue d’histoire littéraire du Québec et du Canada français 1–10 (1979–85). Unfortunately, the authors had to suspend their work before completing the volumes for 1900–73 and 1984–90. Although the bibliographies are admirably extensive in their coverage, the insufficiently refined taxonomy, chronological organization, and lack of cross-references or subject indexes render them far less accessible than they should be.

Some additional studies—almost all of which are published by Canadian publishers or in Canadian serials—are listed in Réjean Beaudoin, Annette Hayward, and André Lamontagne, Bibliographie de la critique de la littérature québécoise au Canada anglais (1939–1989) (Québec: Nota Bene, 2004; 253 pp.; Convergences 31). The 2,696 entries are needlessly swollen by separate listings for entries in literary dictionaries (such as Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre [R4717]). Unfortunately, the organization by decade then by type of publication and a single index of Québec authors render this resource maddeningly inaccessible.

Because the foregoing are restricted to Canadian publications, researchers must also consult the serial bibliographies and indexes in section G.

R4645 edit

Lecker, Robert, Jack David, and Ellen Quigley, eds. Canadian Writers and Their Works (CWTW). [24 vols.] Toronto: ECW, 1983–96. PR9192.2.C38 810′.9′971.

A collection of chapters on major writers of the last 200 years, with 11 volumes devoted to fiction and 11 to poetry (and a cumulative index to each). Each volume treats four or five authors or related groups in essays that include a biography, discussion of milieu, survey of major studies, critical commentary on important works, and selected bibliographies of primary works and scholarship. Indexed by persons and titles of primary works in each volume and in separate cumulative indexes for the fiction and poetry volumes. Although there is considerable unevenness in the quality of individual essays, CWTW is a useful introduction to the work of and scholarship on major Canadian writers. Each essay is also published separately in the series ECW Canadian Author Studies.

R4650 edit

Moyles, R. G. English-Canadian Literature to 1900: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1976. 346 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 6. Z1375.M68 [PR9184.3] 016.81′08.

A selective bibliography of primary and secondary works (published through the early 1970s) important to the study of nineteenth-century English Canadian literature. Entries are listed in seven divisions: reference works (including sections for bibliographies; biographical sources; indexes to serials, theses, and microforms; and library catalogs), general literary history and criticism, anthologies, 12 major authors, 36 minor authors, travel writing, and nineteenth-century literary periodicals. Under each author are sections for bibliographies and manuscripts, collected works, biographical materials, primary works (by genre), and criticism. Less than half of the entries are descriptively annotated. Two indexes: persons; titles (incomplete). Although marred by an inadequate explanation of scope and criteria governing selection, Moyles is an essential supplement to Watters and Bell, On Canadian Literature (R4655), and Watters, Checklist of Canadian Literature (R4620); as a selective bibliography, it is superior to Michael Gnarowski, A Concise Bibliography of English-Canadian Literature, rev. ed. (Toronto: McClelland, 1978; 145 pp.), which is restricted to major authors and too dated to be of much use.

R4655 edit

Watters, Reginald Eyre, and Inglis Freeman Bell, comps. On Canadian Literature, 1806–1960: A Check List of Articles, Books, and Theses on English-Canadian Literature, Its Authors, and Language. Rpt., with corrections and additions. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1973. 165 pp. Z1375.W33 016.8109.

A classified list of biographical, critical, and scholarly studies published between 1806 and 1960 on English Canadian literature and language. Entries are organized alphabetically in two divisions: general and topical studies; individual authors. The first has sections for general bibliographies; Canadian culture and background; language and linguistics; general studies on Canadian literature; drama and theater; fiction; poetry; general criticism; literary history; regionalism; songs, folksongs, and folklore; journalism, publishing, and periodicals; libraries and reading; and censorship and copyright. The work’s flaws—it lacks an index, is not comprehensive, includes several unverified entries taken from other sources, and is superseded in parts—do not outweigh its usefulness as a starting point for identifying studies published before 1961. Review: Gordon Roper, University of Toronto Quarterly 36.4 (1967): 411–13.

For scholarship on theater, see Ball and Plant, Bibliography of Canadian Theatre History (R4735).

Dissertations and Theses edit

R4660 edit

Gabel, Gernot U. Canadian Literature: An Index to Theses Accepted by Canadian Universities, 1925–1980. Köln: Gemini, 1984. 157 pp. Z1375.G32 [PR9184.3] 016.81′09′005.

A classified bibliography of baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral theses accepted by Canadian institutions and treating English or French Canadian literature. The 1,531 entries are organized by degree candidate in two divisions: general literary history (with sections for general studies, poetry, fiction, drama and theater, and periodicals), and individual literary authors. An entry cites title, degree, university, and date. Two indexes: authors of theses; subjects.

An essential complement for English Canadian literature is Apollonia Steele, comp., Theses on English-Canadian Literature: A Bibliography of Research Produced in Canada and Elsewhere from 1903 Forward (Calgary: U of Calgary P, 1988; 505 pp.), an author and subject list of baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral theses accepted by and in progress (as of early 1988) at Canadian, British, Italian, United States, and a few other European and Indian institutions. Coverage excludes pedagogy, folklore, and Canadian theater (as distinct from drama). Besides providing author, title, institution, source of the citation, and, frequently, location of a copy, entries helpfully identify theses that were listed as in progress in other sources but that were never completed or that underwent a change of title. The subject indexing is quite full for Canadian authors and topics, but there are no headings for foreign writers, literatures, or movements. Three indexes: universities; types of degree; dates.

Together, Gabel and Steele supersede Michael Gnarowski, Theses and Dissertations in Canadian Literature (English): A Preliminary Check List (Ottawa: Golden Dog, 1975; 41 pp.), and save users from having to search Naaman and Brodeur, Répertoire des thèses littéraires canadiennes (H470a), Canadian Graduate Theses (H470a), and Canadian Theses (H470). For post-1986 theses accepted by Canadian universities, see Canadian Theses and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (H465); for dissertations on Canadian literature from non-Canadian institutions, see section H: Guides to Dissertations and Theses.

A selective bibliography of popular and scholarly studies (including dissertations, theses, and reviews) that incorporates and continues the following:

Avis, Walter S., and A. M. Kinloch. Writings on Canadian English, 1792–1975: An Annotated Bibliography. Toronto: Fitzhenry, [1978]. 153 pp.
Lougheed, W. C. Writings on Canadian English, 1976–1987: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography. Kingston: Strathy Language Unit, Queen’s U, 1988. 66 pp. Strathy Lang. Unit Occasional Papers 2.
Clarke, Sandra. A Newfoundland and Labrador English Bibliography. Memorial University of Newfoundland. Memorial U of Newfoundland, Sept. 2010. 27 Aug. 2012. <http://www.mun.ca/linguistics/research/language/NL_English_bibliography.pdf>.

Avis and Kinloch and Lougheed exclude works concerned solely with onomastics, the influence of Canadian English on other languages, or pedagogy. Entries can be searched by author, title, and keyword. Results can be limited by type of publication, author, and date. Some records include an annotation that clearly describes the scope and contents of the work. Although selective, the Strathy Bibliography represents the most complete single list of studies of Canadian English. Users should also consult MLAIB (G335) and ABELL (G340).

Dictionaries edit

R4675 edit

A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles. Ed. Walter S. Avis et al. Toronto: Gage, 1967. 927 pp. PE3243.D5 427′.9′71. <http://dchp.ca/DCHP-1/>. (A second edition is in progress with planned release for 2015; see http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sdollinger/dchp2.htm and Stefan Dollinger, Laurel J. Brinton, and Margery Fee, “Revising The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles: A Progress Report, 2006–(April) 2012,” Dictionaries 33 [2012]: 164–78.)

A dictionary of 9,900 words, expressions, and meanings “native to Canada or . . . distinctively characteristic of Canadian usage.” A typical entry includes headword, pronunciation, part of speech, etymology, usage labels (for vocation, locale, or currency), definition, dated illustrative quotations from printed works, and, occasionally, a line drawing. Concludes with a bibliography of sources. The online version allows simple word searching and alphabetical browsing. For a comparison of Dictionary of American Regional English (Q3350) and Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, see Dollinger and von Schneidemesser, “Canadianism, Americanism, North Americanism: DARE and DCHP as Dailectological Research Tools” (Q3350a). The essential dictionary for the historical study of Canadian English and for the explication of Canadianisms in literary works. Canadian English is also included in Dictionary of American English (Q3355), Dictionary of Americanisms (Q3360), and Oxford English Dictionary (M1410). For contemporary Canadian English, see The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, ed. Katherine Barber, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Oxford UP, 2004; 1,830 pp.; online through Oxford Reference [I530]); however, it includes a number of personal names and geographic terms that have no discernible relation to Canada.

Biographical Dictionaries edit

R4680 edit

Dictionary of Canadian Biography (DCB). John English, Ramsay Cook, George W. Brown, David M. Hayne, and Francess G. Halpenny, gen. eds. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1966– . French ed.: Dictionnaire biographique du Canada (DBC). Réal Bélanger, Marcel Trudel, André Vachon, and Jean Hamelin, gen. eds. Québec: P de l’U Laval, 1966– . F1005.D49 [FC25] 920′.071.

Vol. 1: 1000 to 1700. 1966. 755 pp. Corrected rpt., 1979.
Vol. 2: 1701 to 1740. 1969. 759 pp. Corrected rpt., 1982.
Vol. 3: 1741 to 1770. 1974. 782 pp.
Vol. 4: 1771 to 1800. 1979. 913 pp.
Index: Volumes I to IV, 1000 to 1800. 1981. 254 pp.
Vol. 5: 1801 to 1820. 1983. 1,044 pp.
Vol. 6: 1821 to 1835. 1987. 960 pp.
Vol. 7: 1836 to 1850. 1988. 1,088 pp.
Vol. 8: 1851 to 1860. 1985. 1,129 pp.
Vol. 9: 1861 to 1870. 1976. 967 pp.
Vol. 10: 1871 to 1880. 1972. 823 pp.
Vol. 11: 1881 to 1890. 1982. 1,092 pp.
Vol. 12: 1891 to 1900. 1990. 1,305 pp.
Index: Volumes I to XII, 1000–1900. 1991. 557 pp.
Vol. 13: 1901 to 1910. 1994. 1,295 pp.
Vol. 14: 1911 to 1920. 1998. 1,247 pp.
Vol. 15: 1921 to 1930. 2005. 1,266 pp.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada en ligne. U of Toronto–U Laval, 2003–13. 8 Jan. 2013. <http://www.biographi.ca/index-e.html>. Updated regularly. CD-ROM.

A biographical dictionary encompassing a broad range of Canadians and others who at least set foot in the country. Entries are listed alphabetically, with placement in a volume determined by the date of an entrant’s death. The biographies, ranging from 200 to 10,000 words, combine facts with interpretation and conclude with a bibliography of works by and about the individual (frequently citing unpublished material). Each volume includes a general bibliography and index of names; volumes published or reprinted since 1979 include occupation or vocation and geographic indexes. The cumulative index to vols. 1–4 has four indexes (subjects of biographies; occupations or vocations; geographic area; names); that for vols. 1–12 has only two (biographees; names). In addition, entrants are indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565).

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online includes all entrants in the published volumes as well as selected biographies from forthcoming ones. The Keyword Search screen allows keyword searching of the full text and browsing by surname, geographic area, profession, or race; the Advanced Search screen allows searching by name, gender, date range of death, keywords, and—for some biographees—by geographic area, profession, or race (consult the respective help screens for details). The results of a search can be organized in ascending or descending order by date range of death or alphabetically by surname. The editors plan to make all entrants searchable by geography and profession or race, to add portraits to selected entries, and to provide links to sections of Library and Archives Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.ca). Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online offers free access to a major resource.

DCB is a well-edited, authoritative, scholarly source that fully deserves the praise accorded it by reviewers and its rank among the great biographical dictionaries such as Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (M1425) and American National Biography (Q3378); it is especially useful to the literary researcher for its biographies of Canadian writers and historical figures depicted in Canadian literature as well as for the numerous citations to unpublished materials. Reviews: (vol. 1) H. P. Gundy, Dalhousie Review 46.3 (1966): 405–11; (vol. 4) Carl F. Klinck, English Studies in Canada 7.4 (1981): 496–500; (vol. 9) Clara Thomas, English Studies in Canada 5.2 (1979): 227–31; (vol. 11) Shirley Neuman, Canadian Literature 101 (1984): 82–83.

A useful basic biographical dictionary is W. Stewart Wallace, ed., The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, rev. W. A. McKay, 4th ed. (Orillia: Third Sector, 1978; 914 pp.). For living persons, see the current edition of Canadian Who’s Who (http://canadianwhoswho.ca). Entrants in both works are indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565). Marquis Who’s Who on the Web (Q3395) also includes Canadians.

Periodicals edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

See edit

Sec. K: Periodicals/Directories and Periodicals/Union Lists.

Warwick, Commonwealth Literature Periodicals (R4385).

Indexes edit

See edit

Goode, Index to Commonwealth Little Magazines (K795).

Genres edit

Some works in section L: Genres are useful for research in Canadian literature.

Fiction edit

Some works in section L: Genres/Fiction are useful for research in Canadian fiction.

Guides to Primary Works edit

There is no adequate bibliography devoted solely to English Canadian fiction. Margery Fee and Ruth Cawker, Canadian Fiction: An Annotated Bibliography (Toronto: Martin, 1976; 170 pp.), a selection aid for teachers, is too incomplete to be of much use. Until an adequate bibliography appears, researchers will have to make do with Watters, Checklist of Canadian Literature (R4620).

R4703 edit

Weiss, Allan, comp. A Comprehensive Bibliography of English-Canadian Short Stories, 1950–1983. Toronto: ECW, 1988. 973 pp. Z1375.W46 [PR9192.52] 016.813′01.

An author list of 14,314 short stories written in English for adults and published 1950–83 in nearly 1,700 periodicals, anthologies, and author collections or broadcast on radio programs. Although foreign language translations are cited, English-language translations of stories originally written in other languages are excluded. The 4,966 authors include Canadian citizens living in the country and abroad, landed immigrants, and permanent residents as of 1983. Under each author, collections appear first, followed by an alphabetical title list of short stories; along with publication information, entries sometimes cite the source for unverified details, note an alternative title, or indicate that the work might be something other than a short story. Indexed by titles. Although many entries are derived from other indexes or author questionnaires and although it is hardly “a comprehensive bibliography”—it omits most regional and student publications outside Ontario and is weak in the coverage of crime and science fiction—English-Canadian Short Stories does identify scores of works in frequently elusive publications and offers the best guide to English Canadian short stories (and their publishing history) during the period. Review: Helen Hoy, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 28.1 (1991): 100–02.

R4705 edit

Hayne, David M., and Marcel Tirol. Bibliographie critique du roman canadien-français, 1837–1900. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1968. 144 pp. Z1377.F8 H3 016.843.

A bibliography of French-language novels published separately before 1901 by Canadian citizens or permanent residents and of selected scholarship and criticism through 1966. Entries are organized in three divisions: bibliographies, general biographical and critical works, and individual novelists. Under each author, novels are listed alphabetically, with editions, translations, and extracts in periodicals following in chronological order (with locations in Canadian libraries and the Library of Congress). Concluding each author section is a selective list of studies. Although its record of secondary works is far from complete, this remains an essential source for the study of the early French Canadian novel. Unfortunately, there is no comparable bibliography of twentieth-century French Canadian novels.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

R4710 edit

Hoy, Helen. Modern English-Canadian Prose: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1983. 605 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 38. Z1377.F4 H69 [PR9192.5] 016.818′508.

A selective bibliography of primary and secondary works through 1980 that emphasizes fiction writers but also includes essayists, nature writers, critics, and biographers. Of the 78 authors, 10 are nonfiction writers and all were born before 1942; those in Moyles, English-Canadian Literature to 1900 (R4650), are excluded. The approximately 5,250 entries are organized in three divisions: reference works (with sections for bibliographies and general reference works, biographical dictionaries, periodical and dissertation indexes, and guides to manuscripts and special collections), general studies (divided into books and articles), and individual authors (with separate sections for fiction and nonfiction). Under each author, primary works are divided into books and shorter pieces (each classified by genre) and include a list of manuscript collections; secondary works are listed in three sections: bibliographies, criticism, and book reviews (from major periodicals). Only reference works and a few general studies are annotated (the majority inadequately so). Three indexes: persons; book titles; subjects. Although the criteria governing inclusion of authors are vague, the bases for selection of secondary works are unstated, and many entries appear to be copied without verification from other sources, Hoy is at least a starting point for research on established fiction writers. Review: W. J. Keith, Essays on Canadian Writing 30 (1984–85): 136–39.

Biographical Dictionaries edit

See edit

Contemporary Novelists (M2845).

Drama and Theater edit

Some works in section L: Genres/Drama and Theater are useful for research in Canadian drama and theater.

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4717 edit

The Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre. Ed. Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly. Toronto: Oxford UP, 1989. 662 pp. PN2300.O94 792′.0971.

An encyclopedia of Canadian theatrical activity from its first appearance in native cultures through 1988. The 703 signed entries—most of which are far lengthier than one expects in an Oxford Companion and which usually combine factual information and interpretation or evaluation—encompass individuals, 50 major plays, genres and forms, theaters, theatrical companies, and festivals; many conclude with suggestions for further reading. Indexed by persons, titles, and subjects; entrants are also indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565). The full, authoritative entries and thorough indexing rank Canadian Theatre among the best of the Oxford Companions. For suggestions for a revision of Canadian Theatre, see the omnibus review by Bruce Barton, Catherine Graham, Jennifer Harvie, Shawn Huffman, Shemina Keshvani, and Marlene Moser, Theatre Research in Canada 18.2 (1997): 208–19.

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4720 edit

Rinfret, Edouard G. Le Théâtre canadien d’expression française: Répertoire analytique des origines à nos jours. 4 vols. Ottawa: Leméac, 1975–78. Collection Documents. PQ3911.R5 792′.09714.

An annotated author bibliography of published and unpublished French Canadian plays (including radio and television drama) written through the early 1970s. A typical entry gives title, type of play, number of acts or scenes or playing time, cast, setting, synopsis (usually lengthy), first production, and (for published works) publication information and locations of copies in Canadian libraries. Television dramas are listed separately in vol. 4. Indexed by titles in vol. 4. A valuable compendium of information on French Canadian drama, much of which is unpublished.

R4722 edit

McCallum, Heather, and Ruth Pincoe, comps. Directory of Canadian Theatre Archives. Halifax: School of Lib. and Information Studies, Dalhousie U, 1992. 217 pp. Occasional Papers Ser. 53. Z5785.M29 [PN2308.5] 792′.02571.

A guide to collections of Canadian theater materials (including “playbills, programs, posters, scrapbooks, stage designs, playscripts, prompt and stage managers’ scripts, audio and video recordings,” and manuscripts) held by Canadian institutions, libraries, theater companies, museums, and collectors. Entries, based on responses to a questionnaire, are organized by province, then by city, then by institution or theater (with named collections then listed in no apparent order). Indexed by persons, titles, and subjects. Although admittedly incomplete, McCallum and Pincoe offers the fullest guide to Canadian theatrical archives.

Additional materials can be found through Archives Canada: Canadian Archival Information Network / Réseau canadien d’information archivistique (R4590).

R4725 edit

Wagner, Anton, ed. The Brock Bibliography of Published Canadian Plays in English, 1766–1978. Toronto: Playwrights, 1980. 375 pp. Z1377.D7 B75 [PR9191.2] 016.812.

A bibliography of plays (including some radio and television dramas) written by Canadians—native, naturalized, or landed immigrants—primarily while resident in the country. Wagner includes only extant dramatic works published separately or in periodicals or newspapers. Entries are organized by century of composition, then alphabetically by author, and then by title. Each entry provides publication information (but not a list of all editions), number of acts, number of male and female characters, genre, plot summary, and date and place of first production. Indexed by short titles. The organization by century (which is too gross to indicate trends) results in the placement of several authors in two places, and the lack of author, subject, and genre indexes makes the bibliography much less accessible than it should be. There are several omissions and errors (especially in bibliographical details), but the Brock Bibliography is the fullest single source of information on published English Canadian plays. Review: Ron Davies, Canadian Theatre Review 31 (1981): 144–45.

An essential complement because of its broader definition of what constitutes Canadian drama and its inclusion of unpublished works is Patrick B. O’Neill, “A Checklist of Canadian Dramatic Materials to 1967,” Canadian Drama 8.2 (1982): 173–303; 9.2 (1983): 369–506. Although offering a less complete list of dramatic works, Watters, Checklist of Canadian Literature (R4620), is still useful, since it provides locations of copies. For plays published after 1978, see Canadiana (R4595); for recent televised plays, see Richard Bruce Kirkley, “A Catalogue of Canadian Stage Plays on English Canadian Television, 1952 to 1987,” Theatre Research in Canada 15.1 (1994): 96–108. Recent English-language Canadian plays can be searched through the Playwrights Guild of Canada catalog (http://www.playwrightsguild.ca/; click Playwrights, Plays, and Development Centres), which attempts to include every published or professionally produced Canadian play (many of which are unpublished).

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Surveys of Research edit

= R4730 = edit

Wagner, Anton. “From Art to Theory: Canada’s Critical Tools.” Canadian Theatre Review 34 (1982): 59–83. PN2009.C35 792′.05.

A survey of the state of research that evaluates bibliographies and reference works, discusses problems facing researchers in Canadian drama, identifies needed reference works, and concludes with a selective list of bibliographies and guides.

Other Bibliographies edit

= R4735 = edit

Ball, John, and Richard Plant, eds. Bibliography of Theatre History in Canada: The Beginnings through 1984 / Bibliographie d’histoire du théâtre au Canada: Des débuts–fin 1984. Toronto: ECW, 1993. 445 pp. PN2301.B28 016.792′0971. <http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Theatre/Bib>. (The online version is currently unavailable.)

A bibliography of studies through 1984 on Canadian theater history, both English and francophone, with selective coverage of radio and television and the theatrical activities of native peoples. Excludes almost all newspaper articles as well as discussions of ballet, opera, and music. Entries are organized alphabetically (in two sequences: titles of anonymous works; authors) in the following classified divisions—general surveys; theater history to 1900; twentieth-century theater; little theater; festivals; radio and television drama; architecture and facilities; stage design and lighting; stagecraft; biographies and criticism of actors, actresses, and playwrights; theater education; theater for young people; puppetry; periodicals; and theses and dissertations. A few entries are accompanied by one-sentence annotations. Indexed by persons, theaters, subjects, and associations, but regrettably not by titles. There are unaccountable omissions (the editors did not search a source as basic as the MLAIB [G335]), but Bibliography of Theatre History in Canada—which represents a major improvement over its predecessor, A Bibliography of Canadian Theatre History, 1583–1975 (Toronto: Playwrights Co-op, 1976; 160 pp.), and the Supplement, 1975–76 (1979; 75 pp.)—is nonetheless the essential starting place for research on Canadian theater. Coverage is updated in “CATA/ACRT Bibliography” in Association for Canadian Theatre Research / Association de la recherché théâtrale au Canada: Newsletter / Bulletin de liaison (through 31.2 [2007]), which is incorporated into the bibliography’s Web site. Unfortunately, the site offers a primitive search interface that allows only single-keyword searches, includes numerous records with citations so incomplete that users will be unable to locate publications, provides no key to periodical title abbreviations or acronyms, and was last updated in 2007. In short, this is one of the most ineptly designed and poorly edited databases listed in this Guide. A Preliminary Bibliography and Database of Canadian Theatre Reviews, 1900–1992 (which is housed at the same site) offers a similar lack of sophistication in its design.

= See also = edit

Carpenter, Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism, 1966–1980 (M2875).

Eddleman, American Drama Criticism (Q3520).

International Bibliography of Theatre (L1160).

“Modern Drama Studies” (M2870).

Wildbihler and Völklein, Musical: An International Annotated Bibliography (Q4295).

Biographical Dictionaries edit

See edit

Contemporary Dramatists (M2880).

Poetry edit

Some works in section L: Genres/Poetry are useful for research in Canadian poetry.

Guides to Primary Works edit

Bibliographies and Indexes edit

= R4750 = edit

McQuarrie, Jane, Anne Mercer, and Gordon Ripley, comps. and eds. Index to Canadian Poetry in English. Toronto: Reference, 1984. 367 pp. Z1377.P7 M35 [PR9190.2] 016.811′008′0971.

Title and first-line, author, and subject indexes to about 7,000 poems (including some translations of French Canadian works) from 51 collections. The title and first-line index is keyed to a list of anthologies; the author and subject indexes are keyed to the title and first-line index. Although highly selective, this is a convenient source for locating the text of a poem or for identifying works about a topic or theme. Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry (L1235), Index of American Periodical Verse (Q4325), and Poetry Index Annual (L1235a) also index some English Canadian poems.

Some additional poems are included in the 44 anthologies indexed by author, title, first line, and translator in Canadian Poetry in Selected English-Language Anthologies: An Index and Guide, ed. Margery Fee (Halifax: School of Lib. Service, Dalhousie U, 1985; 257 pp.; Dalhousie U Libs. and Dalhousie School of Lib. Service Occasional Papers Ser. 36).

Text Archives edit

= R4753 = edit

Canadian Poetry. Chadwyck-Healey Literature Collections. ProQuest, 1996–2013. 9 Jan. 2013. <http://collections.chadwyck.com/marketing/index.jsp>.

An archive of rekeyed texts of more than 19,000 English-language poems by Canadian writers from the seventeenth century to 1900. Poems published in book form, as broadsheets, or in periodicals have been included up to 1850; post-1850 broadsheets and periodical publications have been included if recommended by the editorial board (a practice at odds with the site’s claim to include the complete canon up to 1900). Editions were selected according to the following criteria: “Reliable modern critical editions have been used as copy text where these are available. Where no suitable modern edition exists, the policy has been to use reliable collected works editions or editions published during the author’s lifetime reflecting his or her final intentions.”

Simple keyword, first-line or title, and author searches can be limited by date during an author’s lifetime, gender, literary period, and to parts (e.g., dedications, epigraphs). Searchers can also browse author and first-line or title lists of the contents of the database. Results appear in ascending alphabetical order and cannot be re-sorted. Citations (but not the full text of poems) can be marked for e-mailing, downloading, or printing; each citation includes a durable URL to the full text.

Some works are rekeyed from textually unsound editions; however, the bibliographic record for each work identifies the source of the text and any omissions (e.g., preliminary matter). Besides being a useful source for identifying an elusive quotation or half-remembered line, the scope of Canadian Poetry’s text archive makes feasible a variety of kinds of studies (stylistic, thematic, imagistic, and topical).

The contents of Canadian Poetry can also be searched through LiOn (I527).

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

R4755 edit

Stevens, Peter. Modern English-Canadian Poetry: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1978. 216 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 15. Z1377.P7 S79 [PR9184.3] 016.811′5.

A highly selective bibliography of primary and secondary works (published almost exclusively in English through the early 1970s) for the study of English Canadian poetry. Entries are organized in classified divisions for reference sources (with sections for bibliographies; biographical sources; indexes to serials, theses, and microforms; and manuscript and special collections), literary histories and general studies, anthologies, periodicals, and 60 poets. The poets are grouped by period (1900–40, 1940–60, and 1960–70s), and each has separate lists of primary works and criticism. Several annotations are inadequately or imprecisely descriptive; few entries in the author division are annotated. Three indexes: persons; book titles; subjects. Because of its inadequate explanation of scope and criteria governing selection of both poets and secondary works, significant omissions, and numerous unverified entries, Stevens is only marginally useful as a guide to modern English Canadian poetry. Review: R. G. Moyles, Essays on Canadian Writing 16 (1979–80): 229–33.

Some additional studies can be identified through “The Year’s Work in Canadian Poetry Studies, [1976–86],” Canadian Poetry 2–20 (1978–87; http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/journpage.htm), a selective, partly annotated bibliography of studies on English Canadian poetry.

Biographical Dictionaries edit

See edit

Contemporary Poets (M2895).

Prose edit

Some works in section L: Genres/Prose are useful for research in Canadian prose.

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4765 edit

Matthews, William, comp. Canadian Diaries and Autobiographies. Berkeley: U of California P, 1950. 130 pp. Z5305.C3 M3 016.920071.

An author list of 1,276 published and manuscript diaries, journals, travel accounts, reminiscences, autobiographies, and the like by Canadians or relating to Canada. Users should note the list in the preface of kinds of material excluded (e.g., French works before the French and Indian Wars, journals by world explorers, and writings by American travelers—for the last, see Arksey, Pries, and Reed, American Diaries [Q3540]). A typical entry includes birth and death dates, occupation, title of published work and publication information or type of manuscript, and time span; a brief description of content; and location and number of pages for a manuscript. Additions appear on pp. 129–30. Indexed by subjects (but inadequately so, since only major or broad topics are included). While far from comprehensive, emphasizing the better-known published works and manuscripts in major libraries, and including several errors, Matthews is still a useful place to begin a search for autobiographical material of Canadian interest. It must be supplemented, however, by Union List of Manuscripts in Canadian Repositories (R4590) and the works in section F: Guides to Manuscripts and Archives. Review: Marie Tremaine, Canadian Historical Review 33.1 (1952): 78–79.

Many of the entries in Canadian Diaries are repeated or revised in Handley, An Annotated Bibliography of Diaries Printed in English (M1615a). Some additional published Canadian diaries are listed in Patricia Pate Havlice, And So to Bed: A Bibliography of Diaries Published in English (Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1987; 698 pp.); however, its chief feature is a combined index of diarists in Matthews, Canadian Diaries; British Diaries (M1615); and American Diaries (Q3540a).

Unpublished English-language diaries written by women are more fully covered in Kathryn Carter, Diaries in English by Women in Canada, 1753–1995: An Annotated Bibliography (Ottawa: Canadian Research Inst. for the Advancement of Women/Institut Canadien de Recherches sur les Femmes, 1997; 106 pp.; F. V. 4). Annotations identify the location of the manuscript, describe in a sentence or two the subject matter, and cite published versions and studies of the diary. The lack of a subject index hampers access to the more than 500 entries.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

See edit

Hoy, Modern English-Canadian Prose (R4710).

Caribbean-Area Literatures in English edit

Works in section R: Other Literatures in English/General are important to research in Caribbean-area literatures.

Guides to Reference Works edit

R4775 edit

Hallewell, L. “English-Speaking Caribbean Literature.” Latin America and the Caribbean: A Critical Guide to Research Sources. Ed. Paula H. Covington. New York: Greenwood, 1992. 495–501. Bibliogs. and Indexes in Latin Amer. and Caribbean Studies 2. Z1601.L3225 [F1408] 016.98.

An annotated guide to bibliographies, biographical resources, and other reference works for the study of English-language Caribbean literature. Hallewell’s clear annotations frequently point up strengths and weaknesses of a resource; the list offers the best guide to reference sources for this literature.

R4776 edit

Methods in Caribbean Research: Literature, Discourse, Culture. Ed. Barbara Lalla, Nicole Roberts, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw, and Valerie Youssef. Kingston: U of the West Indies P, 2013. 287 pp. PN849.C3 M485 2013.

A resource that explores the nuances and complexities of research in literary scholarship and cultural studies in the Caribbean. It is composed of two main parts: “Research Methodology” and “The Research Process.” The first part is further divided into “Conceptual Frames” (theory, cultural studies, culturometrics, criticism), “Methods of Research Data Analysis” (fieldwork, special collections, creative writing research), and “Methods of Research Application and Analysis” (oral histories and sound, text analysis); the second part is divided into practical steps in research: topics, the proposal, the thesis, and finishing and proofreading.

This volume covers the intricacies and opportunities in Caribbean research and brings together a range of methodologies, approaches, and processes. Although it is clearly focused on a place and culture, much of the advice in this book would be of use in other areas of study.

Includes a list of resources and short academic biographies of contributors.

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4780 edit

Herdeck, Donald E., ed. Caribbean Writers: A Bio-bibliographical–Critical Encyclopedia. Washington: Three Continents, 1979. 943 pp. PN849.C3 C3 809′.89729.

A biographical and bibliographical guide to Caribbean literature in four parts: anglophone literature, francophone literature, Netherlands Antilles and Suriname, and Spanish-language literature. Each part begins with an overview of the social, linguistic, and literary history of the area and a list of writers by country or region; each concludes with various bibliographies of primary works and studies. The bulk of the work consists of author entries that provide basic biographical and career information, occasional critical comments, and an incomplete list of primary works and a highly selective list of studies. Because of the organization and incomplete cross-referencing of pseudonyms and variant forms of names, an author index would make entries much easier to locate. The work is inconsistent in places and stylistically wooden but is packed with information; it offers the fullest general guide to Caribbean writers and their work. Review: Marian Goslinga, Revista interamericana de bibliografía 30.2 (1980): 183–84.

More current information on the writers included can be found in Daryl Cumber Dance, ed., Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook (New York: Greenwood, 1986; 530 pp.). Each essay provides a biography, discussion of major works, survey of important scholarship, and selected bibliography of primary and secondary sources. Indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565).

Neither of the preceding is superseded by Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature, ed. D. H. Figueredo, 2 vols. (Westport: Greenwood, 2006), which—as Michael Dash point out—omits important writers and topics, ignores important scholarship, and is sometimes superficial or incorrect. Review: Michael Dash, TLS: Times Literary Supplement 23 June 2006: 28.

Bibliographies of Bibliographies edit

R4785 edit

Jordan, Alma, and Barbara Comissiong. The English-Speaking Caribbean: A Bibliography of Bibliographies. Boston: Hall, 1984. 411 pp. Reference Pub. in Latin Amer. Studies. Z1595.J67 [F2161] 016.0169729.

A bibliography of published and unpublished national, regional, and topical bibliographies available through April 1981 on British Caribbean territories. Works are listed alphabetically by author, editor, or sponsoring organization under variously classified divisions, with the following of most interest to language and literature researchers: library catalogs; regional, national, and general bibliographies; biography (including several literary authors); folklore; history; language and linguistics; and literature. The literature division includes sections for general works, criticism, drama, fiction, indexes, periodicals, poetry, and countries or areas. Entries are accompanied by full descriptions of content and locations of copies (principally in Caribbean libraries). Two indexes: names; subjects. Although some classifications could be more refined and the coverage of parts of books is weak, English-Speaking Caribbean is an essential source for the identification and location of bibliographies treating the Caribbean (many of which are mimeographed works of severely limited distribution). A quick perusal will reveal how much basic bibliographical work remains to be done on Caribbean literatures.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4787 edit

“Select Bibliography of the Literature of the English-Speaking West Indies, [1986–88].” Journal of West Indian Literature 3.1–4.2 (1989–90). PR9214.5.J6 820.6.

A selective, unannotated bibliography of primary and secondary works relating to the literatures of the English-speaking Caribbean. Entries are listed alphabetically in divisions for anthologies, drama, fiction, essays and nonfiction, poetry, bibliography, interviews, reviews, and criticism (with sections for general studies and individual authors).

Some additional studies are included in “Studies in Caribbean and South American Literature: An Annual Annotated Bibliography, [1985–92],” Callaloo 9–16 (1986–93), and in “An Annual Bibliography of Afro-American Literature, [1975–76], with Selected Bibliographies of African and Caribbean Literature,” CLA Journal 20–21 (1976–77).

Other Bibliographies edit

R4790 edit

Allis, Jeannette B. West Indian Literature: An Index to Criticism, 1930–1975. Boston: Hall, 1981. 353 pp. Reference Pub. in Latin Amer. Studies. Z1502.B5 A38 [PR9210] 016.820′9′9729.

A highly selective bibliography of English-language books, a very few collections of essays, and articles from 77 journals and newspapers (with some coverage extending beyond 1975). Entries are organized in three divisions: the first includes studies of specific writers (with sections for general criticism and individual works); the last lists general studies by date of publication. The middle division repeats the entries in the other two as a scholar/critic list; a simple name index would accomplish the same in one-tenth of the 120 pages. General books on West Indian literature are relegated to an appendix. Only the entries in the third division are descriptively annotated, but the lack of an index means one must search through the entire list to find works that treat a particular writer or topic. The high degree of selectivity, lack of an adequate statement of criteria governing selection, poor organization, and lack of indexing make West Indian Literature useful only as an occasional supplement to New, Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures (R4380), and “Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature” (R4375). Some additional studies can be found in Lambros Comitas, The Complete Caribbeana, 1800–1975: A Bibliographic Guide to the Scholarly Literature, 4 vols. (Millwood: KTO, 1977). In particular, see the following chapters in vol. 2: 22, “Creative Arts and Recreation” (including literature); 24, “Folklore”; and 25, “Language and Linguistics.” Theses and dissertations are listed in Samuel B. Bandara, “A Checklist of Theses and Dissertations in English on Caribbean Literature,” World Literature Written in English 20.2 (1981): 319–34.

Genres edit

Poetry edit

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

R4797 edit

Williams, Emily Allen. Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport: Greenwood, 2002. 191 pp. Bibliogs. and Indexes in World Lit. 57. Z1524.P6 W45 [PR9205.2] 016.821′54099729.

An annotated bibliography of English-language primary and secondary resources for the study of English-language poetry by authors resident in or originating from the former British Caribbean territories and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Entries are organized in seven sections: anthologies, reference works, conference proceedings, collected works by individual poets, criticism, interviews, and audio and audiovisual recordings. The brief descriptive annotations generally offer a minimal sense of a work’s content or thesis. Three indexes: authors (both of documents and as subjects); titles; subjects. The subject indexing—both in the authors and subjects indexes—is completely inadequate; users will simply have to skim all entries. Even skimming all the entries will give users only a limited sense of the published studies on a topic and affirm the author’s assertion that the primary criterion governing selection was “the accessibility of the material”: the reference works section omits such basic tools as “Select Bibliography of the Literature of the English Speaking West Indies” (R4787) and Allis, West Indian Literature (R4790); the conference proceedings section does not cite titles of essays (only a few of which are included in the criticism section); a five-minute search of the MLAIB (G335) identified numerous studies omitted from the criticism section. In short, Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970–2001 offers only the most basic starting point for research in the field.

Indian Literature in English edit

Most works in section R: Other Literatures in English/General are important to research in Indian literature in English.

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4800 edit

Singh, Amritjit, Rajiva Verma, and Irene M. Joshi. Indian Literature in English, 1827–1979: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1981. 631 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 36. Z3208.L5 S56 [PR9484.3] 016.82.

A bibliography of English-language creative works and translations by Indian writers and of selected studies of these works. Except for some plays, coverage of primary works is limited to separate publications (attempting but not achieving comprehensiveness). Entries are organized in two divisions: general studies (with sections for philosophy, religion, and the arts; history, society, and politics; reference works; criticism and literary history; and anthologies) and individual writers (organized by genre, then by author, with primary works followed by studies). Selected lists of Indian periodicals and publishers appear as appendixes. Many entries are copied from other sources; a very few works are annotated (inadequately) in the first division. Three indexes: literary authors listed in the second division (with a separate alphabet for each genre); other persons; titles. The work is hard to use because of the poor organization of the individual writers part and its corresponding index (which requires checking four alphabets for some writers) and because of a design and typography that make sections difficult to distinguish. Still, it is the fullest bibliography of primary and secondary works representing Indian writing in English and is especially valuable for its coverage of ephemeral and limited-circulation publications. Review: Prabhu S. Guptara, Yearbook of English Studies 16 (1986): 311–13.

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

See edit

Secs. G: Serial Bibliographies, Indexes, and Abstracts and H: Guides to Dissertations and Theses.

ABELL (G340): Entries on English-language Indian writers and literature are dispersed throughout.

“Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature” (R4375).

MLAIB (G335): English Literature division (especially English III: General) through the volume for 1956; English XI: Australia, Canada, Etc./Indian section in the volumes for 1957–66; English II: Australia, Canada, Etc./Indian section in the volumes for 1967–80; and the Asian Literature/South Asian Literature/Indian Literature section in later volumes. Researchers must also check the headings beginning “Indian” in the subject index to post-1980 volumes and in the online thesaurus.

New, Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures (R4380).

YWES (G330): Indian literature has been covered in the chapter African, Caribbean, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and Indian Literature in English since vol. 64 (for 1983).

New Zealand Literature in English edit

Works in section R: Other Literatures in English/General are important to research in New Zealand literature.

Research Methods edit

See edit

Christenberry and Courtney, Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New Zealand: Strategies and Sources (R4435).

Guides to Reference Works edit

For an evaluative survey of some basic general reference sources, see J. E. Traue, New Zealand Studies: A Guide to Bibliographic Resources (Wellington: Victoria UP for Stout Research Centre for the Study of New Zealand Society, History, and Culture, 1985; 27 pp.). Literary reference works are more fully treated by John Thomson, “Bibliography,” pp. 737–865 in Sturm, The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (R4805).

Histories and Surveys edit

R4805 edit

Sturm, Terry, ed. The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English. 2nd ed. Auckland: Oxford UP, 1998. 890 pp. PR9624.3.O94 820.9′993.

A collection of separately authored essays—devoted to genres as well as nonfiction, children’s literature, popular fiction, publishing and literary magazines, Maori literature, literary criticism and theory, and reference works—on the history of New Zealand literature, primarily in English, through c. 1996. The chapters on literature proceed chronologically, with due attention to social, political, and cultural contexts. Some chapters offer the first detailed consideration of their respective subject; the evaluative bibliographical survey is the best guide now available to reference works and general studies (published and unpublished) important to research in English-language New Zealand literature. Indexed by persons, subjects, and titles of anonymous works. The breadth, depth, and balance of coverage make Sturm the most comprehensive and authoritative history of New Zealand literature in English. Review: Alex Calder, Landfall 46.1 (1992): 98–109.

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4807 edit

The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Ed. Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie. Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1998. 608 pp. PR9620.2.O94 820.9′993′03. Online through Oxford Reference (I530).

A dictionary of New Zealand literature in English, Maori, and other languages. The majority of the signed entries, which range from fewer than 100 to more than 2,000 words, are for individuals, but works, publishers, collectors, children’s literature, periodicals, libraries, films, relations with other national literatures, and topics of significance to New Zealand literature are included. Readable, informative, and reliable, Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature goes well beyond the typical Oxford Companion to treat many topics and writers for the first time and thus offers researchers a plethora of subjects worthy of fuller discussion. Review: Iain Sharp, Landfall ns 7.1 (1999): 117–20.

Guides to Primary Works edit

Manuscripts edit

R4808 edit

The Community Archive: National Register of Archives and Manuscripts. Formerly National Register of Archives and Manuscripts / Te Rārangi Pūranga, Tuhinga Ake o te Motu. Archives New Zealand, 2009. 9 Jan. 2013. <http://thecommunityarchive.org.nz/>. Updated regularly.

A crowd-sourced database register of manuscript collections held by repositories and individuals in New Zealand that includes most entries in National Register of Archives and Manuscripts in New Zealand (Wellington: Alexander Turnbull Lib., 1979–93) as well as descriptions contributed to the National Register of Archives and Manuscripts / Te Rārangi Pūranga, Tuhinga Ake o te Motu database after cessation of the print volumes; collections in the Alexander Turnbull Library were excluded from the latter but can be searched through TAPUHI (http://tapuhi.natlib.govt.nz). Entries, based on information contributed by archives, individuals, and libraries, can be searched by keyword in basic Search; Advanced Search allows searching by keyword, contributor (name, type, and location), resource type or medium, and date. In addition, searchers can browse five lists (click Explore Collections): subjects, contributors, locations, people (individuals, families, and organizations), and tags contributed by users of the site. A full entry includes title of collection; author of the documents; holder of the collection (with shelf list and contact information); type of materials; dates covered; description; quantity; information on access; finding aids; and places, persons, and institutions figuring prominently in the collection. The descriptions vary considerably in their informativeness, like those in any register based on institutional and individual contributions, but Community Archive offers the best guide to locating manuscript collections in New Zealand.

Printed Works edit

R4810 edit

Bagnall, A. G., ed. and comp. New Zealand National Bibliography to the Year 1960. 5 vols. Wellington: Govt. Printer, 1969–85. Z4101.B28 015.931.

A retrospective national bibliography of books and pamphlets published in New Zealand or containing “significant references” to the country. (For a full discussion of kinds of publications excluded, see vol. 1, pt. 1, p. vii, and vol. 2, pp. viii–ix.) Vol. 1 covers 1663–1889; vols. 2–4, 1890–1960. Listed alphabetically by author, corporate author, or title of anonymous work, entries supply title, imprint, pagination, size, and an occasional note on content. A double asterisk denotes a work not seen by the compiler; a title set in italic identifies a work that is outside the bibliography’s scope but that researchers might expect to find listed. Vol. 1, pt. 2 prints additions (pp. 1159–70) and two indexes: chronological; subjects, titles, joint authors. Vol. 5 includes additions and corrections to vol. 1 (pp. 619–37) and vols. 2–4 (pp. 1–279), as well as a subject, title, and joint author index to entries for 1890–1960. Bagnall offers the fullest guide to works published in and about the country.

Although largely superseded by Bagnall, T. M. Hocken, A Bibliography of the Literature Relating to New Zealand (Wellington: Mackay, 1909; 619 pp.), is still useful because of its inclusion of articles and newspapers, classified organization (with sections for language and literature), and extensive notes. See also A. H. Johnstone, comp., Supplement to Hocken’s Bibliography of New Zealand Literature (Auckland: Whitcombe, 1927; 73 pp.), and L. J. B. Chapple, A Bibliographical Brochure Containing Addenda and Corrigenda to Extant Bibliographies of N. Z. Literature (Dunedin: Reed, 1938; 47 pp.).

R4815 edit

New Zealand National Bibliography, [1966– ] (NZNB). Wellington: Natl. Lib. of New Zealand, 1968– . Monthly, with some annual cumulations and one for 1983–93. Microfiche only, 1983–99; Microsoft Word or PDF files, 2000–08; Microsoft Excel or PDF files, 2008– . <http://www.natlib.govt.nz/catalogues/national-bibliography>.

Publications New Zealand. National Library of New Zealand. Natl. Lib. of New Zealand, n.d. 9 Jan. 2013. <http://natlib.govt.nz/collections/a-z/publications-new-zealand>.

A national bibliography of publications and electronic materials published in New Zealand, by New Zealanders, or having significant New Zealand content that were deposited since 1966 under the country’s copyright act or acquired by the National Library of New Zealand. After the bibliography for 1985, nonbook print publications are omitted. The printed volumes were single-author, title, and subject lists. The microfiche edition was published in four parts: register (with entries listed by National Library card number), subject list, author and title list, and publishers’ addresses; only the first provides full cataloging information. Currently, catalog records are listed alphabetically by title under the main Dewey Decimal Classification schedules (with separated sections for New Zealand literature and publications without Dewey Decimal classifications). Each issue concludes with an author index. Records can be searched through Publications New Zealand. New Zealand National Bibliography offers the most complete record of current New Zealand publications. Works published before 1966 are listed in Index to New Zealand Periodicals and Current National Bibliography of New Zealand Books and Pamphlets Published in [1950–65] (Wellington: Natl. Lib. of New Zealand, 1951–66) and before 1960 in Bagnall, New Zealand National Bibliography (R4810).

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

R4820 edit

Thomson, John. New Zealand Literature to 1977: A Guide to Information Sources. Detroit: Gale, 1980. 272 pp. Amer. Lit., English Lit., and World Lits. in English: An Information Guide Ser. 30. Z4111.T45 [PR9624.3] 016.82.

A bibliography of primary and secondary works (including theses, dissertations, popular journalism, and numerous unpublished checklists and ephemeral items) covering literature in English and Maori. Entries are organized in seven classified divisions: bibliographies and reference works (with sections for general works, biographical dictionaries, indexes to serial publications, guides to special collections, and New Zealand English), literary history and criticism, anthologies, individual authors (with sections for bibliographies, collected works, biographical materials, primary works, and criticism), other writers (listing works by minor or unestablished authors), periodicals, and nonfiction prose (by New Zealanders as well as foreigners) about the country. A headnote outlines the scope and organization of each division. Most annotations are full, with many offering evaluative comments; however, several entries are left unannotated. Two indexes: persons; titles. Although the coverage of nineteenth-century literature is weak, Thomson is the most complete single guide to scholarship on New Zealand literature. Review: Shaun F. D. Hughes, Modern Fiction Studies 27.1 (1981): 173–88. Some additional studies of prose fiction are recorded in Rose Marie Beston and John B. Beston, “Critical Writings on Modern New Zealand and Australian Fiction: A Selected Checklist,” Modern Fiction Studies 27.1 (1981): 189–204.

Language edit

Guides to Scholarship edit

See edit

ABELL (G340): Dialects section of the English Language division in the volumes for 1920–26; the English Dialects section in the volumes for 1927–72; the Dialects/Australia and New Zealand section in the volumes for 1973–84; the Dialects/Australasia section in the volumes for 1985–86; and the Dialects/Dialects of the Rest of the World section in later volumes.

MLAIB (G335): See the English I: Linguistics section through the volume for 1966; the Indo-European C: Germanic Linguistics IV: English/Modern English/Dialectology section in the volumes for 1967–80; and the Indo-European Languages/Germanic Languages/West Germanic Languages/English Language (Modern)/Dialectology section in later volumes. Researchers must also check the heading “New Zealand English Dialect” in the subject index to post-1980 volumes and in the online thesaurus.

Thomson, New Zealand Literature to 1977 (R4820).

Dictionaries edit

R4823 edit

The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Ed. Tony Deverson and Graeme Kennedy. South Melbourne: Oxford UP, 2005. 1,355 pp. PE3602.Z5 N487 423.22. Online through Oxford Reference (I530).

A dictionary of New Zealand English as well as terms shared with Australian English, acronyms, and words not unique to New Zealand but “especially relevant” in the country. In addition to entries for approximately 100,000 words, there are some 10,000 encyclopedic entries that provide “information about the world, especially its notable persons and places.” Full vocabulary entries consist of headword, pronunciation, part of speech, inflections, definitions, illustrative examples, grammatical information, usage note, phrases and idioms, compounds, derivatives, etymology, combined forms, and cross-references. Although needlessly swollen by encyclopedic entries that have no discernible relation to New Zealand and not a historical dictionary (nevertheless incorporating Dictionary of New Zealand English: A Dictionary of New Zealandisms on Historical Principles, ed. H. W. Orsman [Auckland: Oxford UP, 1997; 965 pp.]), New Zealand Oxford Dictionary is an essential tool for explicating New Zealand literary works.

Biographical Dictionaries edit

R4825 edit

The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography / Nga Tangata Taumata Rau (DNZB). Auckland: Auckland UP with Bridget Williams Books and Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990– . CT2882.D53 920.093. <http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies>.

Vol. 1: 1769–1869. 1990. 674 pp.
Vol. 2: 1870–1900. 1993. 664 pp.
Vol. 3: 1901–1920. 1996. 649 pp.
Vol. 4: 1921–1940. 1998. 650 pp.
Vol. 5: 1941–1960. 2000. 679 pp.
Vol. 6: 1961–1980.
Future volumes are planned.

A biographical dictionary, in English and Maori, of persons who “flourished” in New Zealand. Entrants are chosen for their eminence or representativeness (with due attention given to ethnic group, gender, region, and activity) or for balance within a volume (e.g., in vol. 1, 30% of the biographees are Maori and 20% are women). The signed entries provide a basic biography and conclude with a selected bibliography of published and unpublished sources. Three indexes in vol. 1: occupations, activities, vocations, tribal leaders; tribes and hapu; persons (vol. 2 adds a regional index).

The online version includes all the biographies in the printed volumes—some of which have been corrected and some of which include additional images or sound files—as well as ones for people who died after 1960 (the cutoff date of the last printed volume). The current search interface is a marked improvement over the earlier ones. The home page allows users to search by keyword or to browse biographees. The advanced search screen allows searches by occupation, region, gender, Maori or non-Maori, year of death, year of birth, tribal affiliation, contributor, and country of birth. Unfortunately, a biography and its accompanying bibliography are displayed on separate pages that must be printed or downloaded (through a Web browser) separately.

Admirably broad in coverage, the DNZB is the standard biographical dictionary for New Zealanders. On the background of the project, see W. H. Oliver, “The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography and the State of New Zealand Historical Studies,” Australian and New Zealand Studies, ed. Patricia McLaren-Turner (London: British Lib., 1985; British Lib. Occasional Papers 4), 30–40; for current information about the project, consult the Dictionary’s Web site.

The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Biographical Database (http://www.mch.govt.nz/what-we-do/websites-we-run/dictionary-new-zealand-biography/dictionary-new-zealand-biography-biograp) includes information on individuals not in DNZB.

Users can also search Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand through the DNZB Web site.

Genres edit

Fiction edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4835 edit

Burns, James. New Zealand Novels and Novelists, 1861–1979: An Annotated Bibliography. Auckland: Heinemann, 1981. 71 pp. Z4114.F4 B83 [PR9632.2] 016.823′008′09931.

A chronological list of novels by New Zealanders, including those resident abroad, and some by foreigners that are set in New Zealand; Burns excludes works for children. Listed by date of first publication, the approximately 1,000 entries cite author, title, publication information, number of pages or volumes, translations, and appearances in periodicals. The very brief (and frequently inadequate) annotations describe content. Two indexes: titles; authors. New Zealand Novels and Novelists offers the fullest list of New Zealand novels, but a subject index would enhance its usefulness.

Literary Research Guide/R

Research Methods edit

R4350 edit

General edit

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4355 edit

See also edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

See edit

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4375 edit

See also edit

Other Bibliographies edit

R4380 edit

Periodicals edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4385 edit

Indexes edit

See edit

African Literatures in English edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4420 edit

See also edit

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4423 edit

Other Bibliographies edit

R4425 edit

See also edit

Australian Literature edit

Research Methods edit

R4435 edit

Guides to Reference Works edit

R4440 edit

Histories and Surveys edit

R4445 edit

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias edit

R4450 edit

R4455 edit

Annals edit

R4460 edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

Manuscripts edit

R4462 edit

Printed Works edit

R4463 edit

R4465 edit

R4470 edit

R4475 edit

See also edit

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

Serial Bibliographies edit

R4480 edit

See also edit

Other Bibliographies edit

R4485 edit

R4488 edit

See also edit

Language edit

Guides to Scholarship edit

See edit

Dictionaries edit

R4490 edit

Biographical Dictionaries edit

R4495 edit

Periodicals edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4500 edit

See also edit

Genres edit

Fiction edit

Guides to Primary Works edit

R4525 edit

Guides to Scholarship and Criticism edit

R4530 edit

Drama and Theater edit

Histories and Surveys edit

R4535 edit

R4540 edit