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Canadian Literature

Reference Resources

Reference resources are a great place to begin your research as they give you background information on your topic.  They can help you define terms as well as find overviews of topics, concepts and theories. They can also help you identify keywords or alternate terms for database searching. Many have helpful bibliographies that will point you to the key scholars in the field.

There are many different types of reference sources, which include dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, handbooks, and style manuals to name a few.

Overviews

Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada
REF PS8015 .E53 2002

The Cambridge History of Canadian Literature 
PS8061 .C345 2009

Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature
REF PS8015 .O94 1997

A History of Canadian Literature
REF PS8065 .N49 2003

Checklist of Canadian Literature and Background Materials, 1628-1960
REF Z1375 .W3 1972

Canadian Literature: recent essays
PR9114. C35 1994t (Stauffer Library Books)

By Region/Ethnicity

Creating Community: A Roundtable on Canadian Aboriginal Literature
PS8089.5.I5 C73 2002 (Stauffer Library Books)
 
Ethnic and Native Canadian Literature
REF Z1376. E83M57 1990
 
Dictionnaire des oeuvres litteraires du Québec
PS9015. D53 Compact Shelving
In 5 volumes.
 
Revue d'histoire littéraire du Québec et du Canada français
PS9071.4 .H5 (1980-1988)
 
English-Canadian Literature to 1900: a guide to information sources
REF Z1375 .M68
 
Literary History of Alberta
PS8131 .A3 M45 1998 (Stauffer Library Books)
In 2 volumes. Includes profiles of writers and their texts from prehistory to twentieth century.
 
Writers of Newfoundland and Labrador: twentieth century
REF PS8131 .N4 D4 1985

By Genre

A Reader's Guide to the Canadian Novel
REF PS8189 .M68 1987

George Woodcock's Introduction to Canadian Poetry
PS8141 .W66 1993 (Stauffer Library Books)

The Theatre of Form and the Production of Meaning: Contemporary Canadian Dramaturgies
PS8177 .K56 1999 (Stauffer Library Books)

Front cover of Dictionary of Literary Biography
Dictionary of Literary Biography (series)
 
A collection of essays on the lives and careers of authors from all eras and genres as well as critical responses to their work. To locate the individual volumes of this multi-volume set, do a title or series title search in Omni for Dictionary of Literary Biography.
 
Relevant volumes include:
 
Canadian Writers Before 1890 (DLB, v. 99)
Canadian Writers, 1890-1920 (DLB, v. 92)
Canadian Writers, 1920-1959 (DLB, v. 68 and 88)
Canadian Writers Since 1960 (DLB v. 53 and 60)
Canadian Literary Humorists (DLB v. 362)
Twenty First Century Canadian Writers (DLB, v.334)

English Language Dictionaries

Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Guide to Canadian English Usage
PE3235 F44 2007

The Dictionary of Canadian Quotations
REF PN6081 .D528 1991t

A Dictionary of of Canadianisms on historical principles : dictionary of Canadian English
PE3235 .D5 1991t (Special Collections)

French Language Dictionaries

Dictionnaire des Canadianismes
PC3637 .D815 1999t

Dictionnaire du francais acadien
REF PC3643 .C67 1999
Includes extensive bibliographical references.

Dictionnaire du Francais Quebecois
PC3645 .Q4 D52 1985