World Languages & Literature: Historical Context
A guide to performing research in the languages and literatures of the world.
Sources for developing overview and background on a period
Reference Sources for historical, political, social or cultural overview and background:
The reference collection can be an excellent place to browse to find subject encyclopedias, subject dictionaries, chronologies, almanacs and handbooks which address a particular historical period of subject. Here's a list of selected call number areas that may be of interest:
A General Works
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion
C Auxiliary Sciences Of History
D World History And History Of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Etc.
E History Of The Americas
F History Of The Americas
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation
H Social Sciences
HM Sociology
HN Social history and conditions
J Political Science
K Law
M Music And Books On Music
N Fine Arts
P Language And Literature
- PA: Greek language & literature. Latin language & literature
- PB: Modern languages. Celtic languages
- PC: Romance languages
- PD: Germanic languages. Scandinavian languages
- PE: English language
- PF: West Germanic languages
- PG: Slavic languages. Baltic Languages. Albanian language
- PH: Uralic languages.Basque language
- PJ: Oriental languages & literatures
- PK: Indo-Iranian languages & literatures
- PL: Languages & literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
- PM: Hyperborean, Indian, and artificial languages
- PN: Literatue (General)
- PQ: French literature - Italian literature - Spanish literature - Portuguese literature
- PR: English literature
- PS: American literature
- PT: German literature - Dutch literature, etc.
- PZ: Fiction and juvenile belles lettres
Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources
Aside from physically browsing to find relevant encyclopedias, to find encyclopedias in library catalogs, combine your topic with the word encyclopedia. For example: encyclopedia vietnam war
Online encyclopedias and databases that historical overview:
- Historical AbstractsFind citations to academic articles on world history (except the U.S. and Canada), from the 15th century to the present.
- Cambridge Histories OnlineProvides the Cambridge Histories series online that covers ancient to modern history.
- Oxford Reference OnlineContains full text subject encyclopedias, reference works, dictionaries, and handbooks in all disciplines.
- International Medieval BibliographyIndexes citations to journal articles and book chapters about the Middle Ages covering Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa from 300 to 1500.
- ITER: Gateway to the Middle Ages and RenaissanceThe online bibliography covers literature pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700).
- L'Annee PhilologiqueThe online database of the bibliography published by the Société Internationale de Bibliographie Classique, L'Annee Philologique indexes scholarly works relating to all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
- ARTFLConsists of texts, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing. The eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries are about equally represented, with a smaller selection of seventeenth century texts as well as some medieval and Renaissance texts.
Featured Resource: Russian Film Hub
- Russian Film HubOn Russian Film Hub, you can legally watch hundreds of Russian and Soviet movies with English subtitles for free. You can filter by genre, decade, director, and more. It’s much more convenient than crawling through uncategorized YouTube channels and different streaming websites – especially if you’re not fluent in Russian!
Primary Sources in Library Databases
The Library has many many full-text databases of electronic primary sources. Here are some collections to explore:
- China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980Presents periodicals, diaries, photographs, and other materials relating to British and American diplomats, missionaries, business people, and tourists in China.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO)Offers full text digital facsimiles of titles from the earliest printed works in the English language.
- Empire OnlineFind primary source documents on colonial history, politics, and culture from 1492 to 2007, primarily about the British Empire, especially Africa, the Americas, Australia, Oceania, and South Asia.
- Making of the Modern WorldArchives books or monographs on economics and business published from 1450 through 1850. Includes materials on commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade, and transport.
- Medieval Travel WritingFeatures digitized medieval manuscripts of important European travel writing from the later Medieval period, focusing on travels from Europe to the Holy Land, India, and China. Includes travel maps.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social JusticeArchives primary source documents for the study of slavery and abolition with materials from Africa, the Caribbean, the U.S., Latin America, and Europe from 1490 to 2007.
- Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. JacobsIncludes digitized books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights in the US, Europe, and around the world. Materials date from 1534 to 1945, with especially strong coverage of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- Romantic Era RedefinedFeatures the full text of Romantic-era literature focusing on poetry, prose, drama, letters, and diaries along with political, philosophical, scientific, and sociological works between 1800 and 1830.
- New York Times Historical FileArchives the New York Times from 1851 with full page images and articles.
- Eighteenth Century Collections OnlineIncludes full text of important printed works published in the United Kingdom between 1701 and 1800, along with important works from the Americas.
- British PatheConsists of the archive of the British Pathe news corporation from 1896 to 1970. The archive covers history, social history, sports, news, and entertainment. Closed captions are not available.
Primary Sources on the Web
Many libraries, museums, and archives have digitized their historic documents and put them online in digital libraries. Here are some large collections (and links to other large collections) you may want to explore.
- American Memory Project from the Library of CongressAmerican Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersDigitized historic American newspapers pages from 1836-1922.
- Digital ScriptoriumA growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts.
- EuroDocsAn extensive list, by country, of websites with European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated.
- National Union Catalog of Manuscript CollectionsThe mission of the NUCMC program is to provide and promote bibliographic access to the nation's documentary heritage.
- Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & LawThis collection brings together all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world and includes pamphlets, books, legal statutes, and articles on slavery.
- Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade DatabaseProvides information on slaving voyages from Europe and Africa to North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil. The database offers researchers, students, and the general public a chance to rediscover the reality of one of the largest forced movements of peoples in world history.
- World Digital LibrarySignificant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. Browse by time, place, topic, type of item, and more.