English Pathfinder: African American Literature

The following lists are not comprehensive. The items listed on this page are representative of some of the most frequently used research materials on this topic. To find more material, consult the library catalog or contact your librarian for assistance.


Indexes

An index is a specialized database that organizes information about the locations of articles in journals/magazines, reports and newspapers; and book chapters, papers in conference proceedings, and book reviews. Indexes provide the complete bibliographic citation of an article, including the title of the article, author, name of the journal, volume number, the pages of the journal in which the article can be found, and a short summary, or abstract, of the article. Some indexes are in book form, and some are electronic databases. Some electronic databases, including MLA, do NOT provide the complete text of articles. For tips on how to effectively search databases, and how to find journals that are not available on-line, contact your librarian, or consult How to Find Materials on English in the Waidner-Spahr Library.


Print:

The Columbia Granger's Index to African-American Poetry
REF PS153 .N5 C65 1999 1999

Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans, 1790-1995
REF PS663 .M55 V64 1996

 

Electronic:

MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
The premier scholarly index for literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.

America: History and Life
Covers scholarly literature on United States and Canadian history. Materials treating all aspects of history from prehistoric times to the present. The rest of modern world history is covered in a companion database, Historical Abstracts.

Documenting the American South
An extensive collection of sources on Southern history, literature, culture, and religion. The Southern Homefront, 1861-1865 The Church in the Southern Black Community.

Essay and General Literature Index
Indexes chapters and essays contained in books of collected works.

Humanities Full Text
Covers journal articles in the humanities, archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, history, journalism and communications, linguistics, literature, music, performing arts, and religion.

Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective
A bibliographic database that cites articles from English-language periodicals. Coverage includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of humanities and social sciences journals.

JSTOR
An interdisciplinary archive of over 600 journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Literary Index
Gale's Literary Index is a master index to the major literature products published by Gale, including Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Critisicm, and Poetry Criticism.

Project Muse
Search journals published by university presses.

 


Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Dictionaries and encyclopedias are helpful in finding basic information about your topic area. They may also serve as sources of inspiration to you as you search for new topics to research. The following list is not comprehensive. Search the library catalog for more encyclopedias and dictionaries. Refer to How to Find Materials on English in the Waidner-Spahr Library for tips on how to best perform a search, or contact your librarian for assistance.

 

Blacks in America, 1492-1977: A Chronology & Fact Book
REF E185 .S57 1976 1976

Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
REF PS153 .N5 A24 2003

The Oxford Companion to African American Literature
REF PS153 .N5 O96 1997

Masterpieces of African-American Literature
REF PS153 .N5 M264 1992

Best Literature by and about Blacks
REF PS153.N5 R53 2000 2000

Biographies

Print:

African American Writers
REF PS153 .N5 A344 2001 2001

African-American Writers
REF PS153 .N5 B214 2004

Modern African American Writers
REF PS374 .N4 M37 1993 1994

The Schomburg Center Guide to Black Literature: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present
REF PN841 .V36 1995 1996

Electronic:

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Biography and Genealogy Master Index is the first place you should look when seeking biographical information on any living or deceased person worldwide. It is an electronic index to over 13 million biographical entries in 3,400+ biographical reference works.

American National Biography (ANB)
Nearly 20,000 biographies, revised three times per year.

Contemporary Authors

A database that includes biographic details on approximately 100,000 modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists and scriptwriters. Featured are current writers, the most-studied literary figures of the early 20th Century and authors from around the world whose works have been translated into English or published in the United States. Included are the author's writings, media adaptations, works in progress sidelights and interviews.

 

Dictionary of Literary Biography
The Dictionary of Literary Biography presents career biographies and criticism of writers from all eras and all genres through volumes dedicated to specific types of literature and time periods.

 




 Bibliographies

African American Authors, 1745-1945: Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook
REF PS153 .N5 A32 2000

A Bibliographical Guide to African-American Women Writers
REF PS153 .N5 J67 1993 1993

The Pen is Ours: A Listing of Writings by and about African-American Women before 1910
REF PS153.N5 Y44 1991

African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance, 1600s-1920
REF NX512.2 .A35 1990

Southern Black Creative Writers, 1829-1953 : Biobibliographies
REF PS153 .N5 F67 1988 1988

 


Criticism

Literary Index
Gale's Literary Index is a master index to the major literature products published by Gale, including Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Critisicm, and Poetry Criticism.

Literature Criticism Online
This index includes several literary criticism series including Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) and Twentieth Century Literature Criticism (TCLC).

 

Primary Resources

Print:
Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans, 1790-1995
REF PS663 .M55 V64 1996

Electronic:

Documenting the American South
An extensive collection of sources on Southern history, literature, culture, and religion. The Southern Homefront, 1861-1865 The Church in the Southern Black Community.

 

Websites

Literary Resources on the Net
A "meta" site maintained by Rutgers University — Newark.