Resources for German main page

Bio-bibliographical information about authors

Background information on primary literature

Literary criticism

Electronic texts

*Note: "Reference" refers to the Reference Reading Room in the Main Library's Research Collections.

Using IUCAT to find what you need:

To find a subject heading for a particular topic, use the Library of Congress Subject Headings lists, available in the IO terminal area of Reference (the "big red books.") Then, type it into IUCAT like this: s=german literature--19th century--bio-bibliography
(Note that two dashes must be typed to indicate subheadings linked to main headings).

If your topic is more specific, it is probably more effective to do a keyword search (k=). You can also restrict a keyword search to the subject headings field, for example: k=nietzsche.su.

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Bio-bibliographical information about authors:

Themen: Personenbezogen

germanistik.net--Internet Resources for Germanists

Osterreichische Literatur im WWW

This site contains links to biographical information and scholarship on Austrian authors.

Contemporary Authors. Detroit: Gale, 1974- Print version available in Reference: Z1224 .C76 (current issue always includes a cumulative index to the previous volumes).

International in scope, CA includes German authors who have achieved international reputations. Features excellent biographical and bibliographical sketches, with other recommended biographical sources listed for each author.

Literaturlexikon: Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache. hrsg. von Walther Killy. Gütersloh: Bertelsmanns Lexikon, 1988-1993. (15 vols.) Research Collections 10th floor: PT41 .L5 1988

Biographies of authors and analyses of their works, from the earliest times to the present. Includes color pictures. Volumes 1-12 comprise Autoren und Werke A-Z; volumes 13 and 14 include Literarische Begriffe, Epochen und Gattungen, and Literaturwissenschaft und Buchwesen. Volume 15 is the Register (Index).

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1978-

Each volume of this ongoing series spotlights authors of a different period, nationality and genre. Authors are listed alphabetically. At the end of each entry is information on where the authors original papers and manuscripts are housed. Volumes featuring German-language authors can all be found in Reference and include:

German writers and works of the Early Middle Ages, 800-1170. Vol. 148 (PT171 .G4 1995)
German writers and works of the High Middle Ages, 1170-1280. Vol. 138 (Z2231 .G47 1994)
German writers of the Renaissance and Reformation, 1280-1580. Vol. 179 (PT241 .G47 1997)
German Baroque writers, 1580-1660. Vol. 164 (PT271 .G47 1996)
German Baroque writers, 1661-1730. Vol. 168 (PT271 .G48 1996)
German writers from the Enlightenment to Sturm and Drang, 1720-1764. Vol. 97 (PT293 .G47 1990)
German writers in the age of Goethe: Sturm and Drang to classicism. Vol. 94 (PT311 .G48 1990)
German writers in the age of Goethe, 1789-1832. Vol. 90 (PT311 .G47 1989)
Nineteenth-century German writers, to 1840. Vol. 133 (PT351 .N56 1993)
Nineteenth-century German writers, 1841-1900. Vol. 129 (PT341 .N56 1993)
German fiction writers, 1885-1913. Vol. 66 (PT771 .G47 1988)
Austrian fiction writers, 1875-1913. Vol. 81 (PT3814 .A97 1989)
German fiction writers, 1914-1945. Vol. 56 (PT772 .G39 1987)
Austrian fiction writers after 1914. Vol. 85 (PT3814 .A98 1989)
Contemporary German fiction writers. First series. Vol. 69 (PT772 .C59 1988)
Contemporary German fiction writers. Second series. Vol. 75 (PT772 .C593 1988)
Twentieth-century German dramatists, 1889-1918. Vol. 118 (PT666 .T86 1992)
Twentieth-century German dramatists, 1919-1992. Vol. 124 (PT666 .T87 1992)

Kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur (KLG), hrsg. von Heinz Ludwig Arnold. München: Edition Text+Kritik. IU has 1961-1996. Reference: PT155 .K25

Like Contemporary Authors, KLG is a bio-bibliographical guide to contemporary German, Austrian and Swiss authors, and to critical essays about their work.

Kürschners deutscher Literatur-Kalendar. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1879-. Reference has latest, 1988/89: Z2232 .K9 (back issues on 11th floor).

Annual biography of prominent contemporary German writers.

Die Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters: Verfasserlexikon. 2. Aufl. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1978-. (10 vols.) Reference: Z2230 .S78

Comprehensive biographical source on German authors of the Middle Ages.

Lexikon deutschsprachiger Schriftstellerinnen, 1800-1945. Gisela Brinker-Gabler, Karola Ludwig, Angela Woffen, eds. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1986. Research Collections 10th floor: PT167 .B75

Gives biographical and critical sketches of 200 women authors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland who lived and wrote during this time period. Includes bibliographies of primary and critical works, locations of manuscripts, and photographs or portraits.

Lexikon deutschsprachiger Schriftstellerinnen im Exil, 1933-1945. Renate Wall, ed. Freiburg im Breisgau: Kore, 1995. (2 vols.) Research Collections 10th floor: PT167 .W34

Women writers of Germany, Austria and Switzerland: an annotated bio-bibliographical guide. Elke Frederiksen, ed. N.Y.: Greenwood Press, 1989. Research Collections 11th floor: Z2233.5 .W6 W66 1989

Covers women authors from the 10th century A.D. to the 20th century. Includes short biographical sketches and bibliographies of writings, some with annotations.

Reclams Deutsches Filmlexikon: Filmkünstler aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, von Herbert Holba, Günter Knorr und Peter Spiegel. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1984. Research Collections 9th floor: PN1998 .A2 H58 1984.

Comprehensive biographical sketches of German-language filmmakers up to the early 1980s.

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Background information on primary literature:

The Oxford Companion to German Literature. 3rd ed. Henry and Mary Garland. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Reference: PT41 .G3

A-Z guide to brief explanations of many topics and authors, spanning the entire spectrum of German literature, from A.D. 800 to after reunification.

Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturwissenschaft, hrsg. von Klaus Weimar. Berlin; New York: de Gruyter, 1997. Reference: PT41 .R42 1997.

A-Z guide to concepts relevant to German literature and literary history.

Grundriss zur Geschichte der Deutschen Dichtung aus den Quellen. 2. Aufl. Karl Goedeke. Dresden: Ehlermann, 1884-1966 (17 vols.) Reference: PT521 .G52. Author index to first 15 volumes.

Said to be the most comprehensive bibliography of German literature to the mid-20th century. Arranged chronologically. Includes listings of various editions, treatises, histories, biographical and criticals works, and sources. The third edition of volume four deals primarily with the works of Goethe.

Der Taschengoedeke. Bibliographie deutscher Erstausgaben. Leopold Hirschberg, ed. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1970. Reference: Z2231 .H6 1970.

Pocket companion to the above entry. Provides dates of original publication (first editions) for authors works. Also includes pseudonyms.

Literaturlexikon: Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache, hrsg. von Walther Killy. Gütersloh: Bertelsmanns Lexikon, 1988-1993. (15 vols.) Research Collections 10th floor: PT41 .L5 1988

Volumes 1-12 comprise Autoren und Werke A-Z; volumes 13 and 14 include Literarische Begriffe, Epochen und Gattungen, and Literaturwissenschaft und Buchwesen. Volume 15 is the Register (Index).

Kindlers neues Literatur Lexikon, hrsg. von Walter Jens. Zürich: Kindler, 1988-1992. Reference: PN44 .K55 1988

Includes plot summaries and background information for a variety of literary works. Not limited to German-language works.

Der Romanführer. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1950-1974. (16 vols.) Reference: PN3326 .R75

Provides plot summaries and character information for many well-known German-language and international novels. Volumes. 1-5 cover German-language novels from Baroque to the first half of the 20th century; volume 13 covers 1954-1963; volume 15 is the index; and volume 16 covers 1964-1973.

Romanführer A-Z. Hrsg. vom Kollektiv für Literaturgeschichte unter Leitung von Kurt Bottcher. Berlin: Volk und Wissen, 1972-78. Research Collections 10th floor: PT744 .R758

Volume 1: Der deutsche, österreichische und schweizerische Roman. Volume 2: 20. Jahrhundert: der deutsche Roman bis 1949, Romane der DDR. Volume 3: 20. Jahrhundert: der österreichische und schweizerische Roman, Romane der BRD.

Der Schauspielführer. Joseph Gregor. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1953-1996. (16 vols.) Reference: PN6112.5 .G82

Includes plot summaries for German plays from the earliest period to the mid-twentieth century.

Geschichte des deutschen Films. hrsg. von Wolfgang Jacobsen, Anton Kaes u. Hans Helmut Hinzler. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1993. Research Collections 9th floor: PN1993.5 .G3 G373 1993

A comphrehensive history of the German film.

The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature. Friederike Eigler and Susanne Kord, eds. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Reference PT41 .F46 1997.

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Literary criticism:

Bibliographie der deutschen Sprach-und Literaturwissenschaft. Frankfurt am Main: Klosterman, 1969-. Reference: Z2231 .E64

Commonly known as Eppelsheimer after the original editor, this is an annual bibliography of German literary criticism.

Modern German Literature. Agnes Korner Domandi. N.Y.: Ungar, 1972. (2 vols.) Reference: PT401 .D666

Part of the series Library of Literary Criticism, this volume includes critical excerpts from literary magazines, newspaper book reviews, academic and scholarly periodicals, and scholarly books, on works by authors in East and West Germany, Austria and Switzerland, since 1900 and up to the early 1970's.

Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1981-. Reference: PN761 .N5

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1978-. Reference: PN771 .G27

Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1973-. Undergraduate Library Reference: PN94 .C762

All three of these guides to literary criticism include German-language authors who have reached international acclaim. They feature excerpts from critical essays about the authors works.

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Electronic texts:

German Literature on the Internet: Text Collections & Author Index http://www.lib.virginia.edu/wess/germtext.html

Comprehensive, annotated collection of links maintained by the Western European Specialists Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Projekt Gutenberg http://gutenberg.aol.de/gutenb.htm

German Propaganda Archive Literary and non-literary sources of Nazi and East German Propaganda

Goethes Werke (Weimarer Ausgabe) Available in LETRS (Library Electronic Text Resource Service, in Research Collections), and also remotely at http://calliope.ucs.indiana.edu/goethe

Collected Works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Available in LETRS, and also remotely at http://calliope.ucs.indiana.edu/nz/

Saganet Icelandic Sagas and related works

Kant's Gesammelte Schriften. On CD-ROM in LETRS.

Robert MusilDer Literarische Nachlass (Literary Remains). On CD-ROM in LETRS.

EDV-Text Von "Des Minnesangs Fruhling." On 3 ½ in. diskettes in LETRS. Introductory material in German, text in Middle High German.

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