Literary Criticism and Theory
Subject Guide
Databases for Literary Topics
Our new discovery catalog allows you to search for books, articles, media and more, both at University Library and worldwide!
Too many hits? Search efficiently! Use the Advanced Search.
- Search the AUTHOR of the work you are researching as the SUBJECT. Film directors are also entered as SUBJECT.
- If it is an anonymous work or a collective work with no author (like a television show), search the TITLE as a SUBJECT
- Select "English/Languages, Literatures, and Cultures" under "Additional Tools" to run your search in relevant databases.
- Filter by Format: Article/Chapter, Book/Ebook.
- Filter by Date.
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MLA International Bibliography with Full Text This link opens in a new window
The MLA International Bibliography is a library database comprised of more than 3 million indexed citations to scholarly publications (e.g., books, essays, journal articles, and websites) that relate to human communication in any form. Coverage includes literature from all over the world—Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. Folklore is represented by folk literature, music, art, rituals, and belief systems. Linguistics and language materials range from semantics, stylistics, and syntax to translation, comparative linguistics, and history and theory of linguistics. Other topics include literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts (film, radio, television, video, theater), rhetoric and writing studies, teaching of language and literature, and the history of printing and publishing.
When you find a desired citation:
- If the item is an article in a journal and the full text is available, it will be signified by the presence of a PDF icon, the accompanying text in HTML, or a link to the article in another database. (see Finding the Full Text for more info.)
- If there is no accompanying full text:
- Use the Journals tab on the Discover Library Resources search box from the Libraries webpage to double check if the Rider Universities Libraries owns or has electronic access to the journal in your citation.
- Request the article thorough Interlibrary Loan. We will get it for you from another library!
- It could be a book or a book chapter. See the next bullet point!
- If the citation is a chapter of a book, search the title of the book (not the chapter title) in the library catalog.
- If we don't have the book, we can also get the chapter or the whole book through Interlibrary Loan.
Search efficiently! Click on the down arrows (drop-down box) for even more specific literature searching options in MLA.
For best results, refine your search using Advanced Search.
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Literary Reference Source This link opens in a new windowLiterary Reference Source™ is a comprehensive database that provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. It has been specifically designed for public libraries, secondary schools, junior/community colleges, and undergraduate research. Literary Reference Source is a full-text database that combines information from thousands of major respected reference works, books, and literary journals as well as original content from EBSCO Publishing. Content includes thousands of plot summaries, essays of literary criticism, author biographies, book reviews, classic and contemporary poems, classic and contemporary short stories, and author interviews. Access provided by the New Jersey State Library.
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Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Our largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database contains full text for more than 4,600 scholarly publications, including more than 3,900 peer-reviewed publications.Access provided by the New Jersey State Library. .
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OmniFile Full Text Mega This link opens in a new windowProvides indexing, abstracting, and selected full text to the Wilson databases for Business, Education, General Science, Humanities, Readers’ Guide, and the Social Sciences. Also includes selected full text to the Wilson databases for Applied Science & Technology, Art, Biological & Agricultural Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, and Library Literature & Information Science.
Both of these are searchable simultaneously using Library One Search.
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Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowA bibliographic and partial full text database of articles from some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines, covering Archaeology, Area Studies, Art, Classical Studies, Communications, Dance, Film, Folklore, Gender Studies, History, Journalism, Linguistics, Literary & Social Criticism Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Religion and Theology.
Searched in Library One Search.
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Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Film & Television Literature Index™ with Full Text is the definitive online tool for film and television research. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, screenwriting, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. The database provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 380 publications (and selected coverage of 300), as well as full text for more than 120 journals, and 100 books. In addition, Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text includes Variety movie reviews from 1914 to the present and over 36,300 images from the MPTV Image Archive.
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Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowCommunication & Mass Media Complete provides the most robust, quality research solution in areas related to communication and mass media. This database originated with the acquisition and subsequent merging of two popular databases in the fields of communication and mass media studies -- CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association (NCA)), and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Pennsylvania State University). Communication & Mass Media Complete provides an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and educators interested in any and all aspects of communication and mass media.
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JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive This link opens in a new windowJSTOR contains the full text of articles published in approximately 430 journals from the fields of arts and sciences, and business. Its archive spans from the first volume of the journal to within the past three to five years of the journal.
- Use Advanced Search and limit to “Language and Literature” or other disciplines under “Subject”.
- See “Searching JSTOR” under “Help” or click the "Search Help" link in the Advanced Search tab to learn the operators to make your keyword searching more effective.
Use Journals button on library home page if a recent or current issue is not full-text in JSTOR to see whether we have access to it in another database.
Depending on your topic, these databases might be helpful, too!
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GenderWatch This link opens in a new windowGender studies - scholarly journal articles, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports
This is a database of unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas. With its archival material, dating back to 1970 in some cases, GenderWatch is a repository of important historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community and the changes in gender roles over the years. Publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports. -
Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new windowSocial Sciences Full Text™ provides access to a wide assortment of the most important English-language journals published in the social sciences. This resource provides detailed indexing for over 625 periodicals dating back as far as 1983—nearly 400 of which are peer-reviewed.
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PsycInfo (APA PsycInfo) This link opens in a new window
The PsycInfo® database, American Psychological Association’s (APA) renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. It contains records and summaries dating as far back as the 1600s with one of the highest DOI matching rates in the publishing industry. Journal coverage, which spans from the 1800s to the present, includes international material selected from periodicals in dozens of languages.
This cross-search of 12 EBSCO databases includes:
MLA International Bibliography with Full Text
Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Humanities Full Text
Literary Reference Source
Literary Reference Source eBook Subscription
Academic Search Premier
OmniFile Full Text Mega
Readers' Guide Full Text Mega
eBook Open Access (OA) Collection
eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost)
Use the All Filters button to limit results to a desired database.