Research Guides: Francophone Studies: LiteraryResearch

Reference Works

Here are some examples of reference works in French literature. Encyclopedias, handbooks and bibliographies will help you answer a quick question, learn some general information or find specific references to authors and works.

The New Oxford companion to literature in French
Main Ref PQ41 .N48 1995
French women writers : a bio-bibliographical source book
Main Ref PQ149 .F73 1991
Collection littéraire Lagarde et Michard
Main Libr PQ1109 .L3 1985
French dramatists, 1789-1914
Main Ref PQ501 .F733 1998
A Dictionary of Symbols
Main Ref GR931 .C4413 1994
Samuel Beckett : a reference guide.
Main Ref Z8086.37 .A5 1989

Area Resources - Quebec

Area Resources - Francophone Africa

Area Resources - Caribbean

Area Resources - Rest of World

Texts on the Web

Gallica
The official digitization project of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Gallica comprises full-text, images and recordings. Especially rich in 19th century materials, the database includes material as far back as the middle ages. Gallica's "Dossiers" are particularly useful collections of documents in specific areas

This searches some of the larger collections of French texts on the Web:

Project Gutenberg Europe
Public domain (older) materials, digitized and freely available. Can often be downloaded to portable devices.
ARTFL - Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language
Access to numerous full-text works in prose, poetry and drama going back to the middle ages - not useful for contemporary works. Includes a section with older dictionaries for early modern research. Search FRANTEXT to find works, or to search the works by keyword in context. The interface is cumbersome. Diacritics matter! Includes access to B.A.S.I.L.E. - a digital library of about 1000 narrative works (novels, tales, short stories).
Internet Archive - Text Collections
Attempts to pull together a variety of open access collections of digitized books - including Project Gutenberg, Google Books, etc
Athena
More than 2000 e-texts in French on philosophy, science, classics, literature, history, economics
ABU - La bibliothèque universelle
Published by the Association des Bibliophiles Universels. Compiled by the French equivalent of Project Gutenberg; not a large database, and the quality is variable, still useful.