LibGuides: ENGL 3090: Turning the Kaleidoscope: How We Look At Texts: Intro to Literary Theory

Literary Theory

Literary Theory: a Guide for the Perplexed

Beginning Theory

Critical Theory Today

Additional Beginner Resources

Literary Theory: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Entry on literary theory from the the IEP (scholarly, peer-reviewed information on philosophy topics and notable people, available free online).

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism by Michael Groden (Editor); Martin Kreiswirth (Editor); Imre Szeman (Editor)
Call Number: PN81 .J554 2005 (TJL Reference)

ISBN: 9780801880100

Publication Date: 2004-12-10

A foundational resource in literary theory and criticism, providing nearly 250 articles on notable people, major schools and movements, and important innovations, both historical and modern. Coverage also includes influential disciplines.

Purdue OWL: Writing About Literature
Guidance on writing about literature in different contexts and genres.

Finding Literature/Literary Criticism

Literature/Critical Editions/Books About Theory

Search tips:

Use the Discover@UMSL search on the library home page OR the print catalog
When searching a book title, use quotation marks (e.g., "Pride and Prejudice")
Use the Advanced Search to search by title, author, or subject
- Use the "Select a Field" drop-down menu
Spelling matters! Capitalization does not.
To find only books/eBooks: select these options under Limit by Source Type (or Refine Results) on the results page
Browse a book's Table of Contents to find essays on specific topics
Book not available at UMSL? Try the MOBIUS search to get a copy from another library.

Scholarly Articles/Reviews

Search tips:

Use both Discover@UMSL (library home page) AND databases like JSTOR or MLA (links below). Not all resources show up in the main Discover search.
Use the Field drop-down menus to search by subject (for articles about a particular book, author, theory, time period, genre, etc.)
Scan the article's reference list to find additional sources on your topic.

Literature Databases

JSTOR
Scholarly articles and books (at least 3-5 years old), as well as some primary resource collections.

Journal Collections
Arts & Sciences I – XV
Life Sciences
Business IV
Hebrew Journals
Ireland
Public Health
Lives of Literature

Reports & Research
Security Studies
Sustainability

Primary Sources
19th Century British Pamphlets (Bristol Selected Pamphlets, Cowen Tracts, Earl Grey Pamphlets Collection, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Collection, Hume Tracts, Knowsley Pamphlet Collection, LSE Selected Pamphlets, Manchester Selected Pamphlets, Wilson Anti-Slavery Collection)
World Heritage Sites: Africa (Reference)
Struggle for Freedom: Southern Africa (Reference)
Global Plants (Reference)
MLA International Bibliography
Indexes critical materials on modern language, literature, linguistics, and folklore. Covers over 3,000 journals and series, books, working papers and proceedings, and bibliographies.

A related database is the MLA Directory of Periodicals which lists advertising, submission and contact information for over 3,700 journals (but does NOT index the contents of these journals).
Project MUSE
Full-text access to scholarly journal titles and books (primarily Humanities and Social Sciences).

You can look for material in two ways: "Search" to find a particular topic. By default only available content is shown. "Browse" to peruse all book and journal titles and tables of contents abstracted in MUSE. You can also uncheck the option "Only content I have full access to" when viewing your results to find abstracts of additional material.
If an item is not available through Project MUSE, it may be available in other UMSL collections or through Interlibrary Loan. Click the "Find Full-Text" link to check if the Libraries own a journal full text through another source (online or print). If the item is a book, check the UMSL Library Catalog under the book title or book author.
TLS (Times Literary Supplement) (2010-)
Book reviews, books extracts, essays, and poems from leading writers covering a broad range of subjects. Also reviews the latest in fiction, film opera, theater, dance, radio, and television along with non-English books. See the Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive for earlier issues.
Literature Criticism Online
Scholarly and popular commentary drawn from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books, and periodicals.