French Studies: Reference Sources

There are a great number of dictionaries, encyclopedias and histories devoted to French culture, history, literature, philosophy, and civilization. These are a few examples. More can be found browsing the related call number ranges (primarily DC and PQ) in the Van Pelt Reference stacks, as well as in the main stacks. For further help, contact the reference librarian.

The Oxford dictionary of literary terms

The Columbia History of Twentieth-Century French Thought. Lawrence D. Kritzman, ed. New York: Columbia University Press, c2006.   Location:  [Van Pelt Reference DC33.7 .C575 2006]

Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de, Daniel Couty and Alain Rey. Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. Paris: Bordas, c1994. 4 vols.   Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ41 .B4 1994]     Beaumarchais, Couty and Rey are responsible for a number of large reference works on French writers, literature, and literary works. Search them individually for a complete list of available titles.

Levi, Anthony.Guide to French Literature. Chicago: St James Press, 1992. 2 vols.   Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ226 .L48 1992]

Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires du Québec. Sous la direction de Maurice Lemire; avec la collaboration de Jacques Blais, Nive Voisine et Jean du Berger. 2nd ed. Montréal: Fides, 1980- . 7+ vols.   Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ3917 .D5 1980]

Lettres françaises de Belgique: dictionnaire des oeuvres. Robert Frickx and Raymond Trousson. Paris: Duculot, 1988- . 4 vols.                  Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ3811 .Z5 1988]

Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française en Afrique au sud du Sahara. Sous la direction d'Ambroise Kom. 2 vols. Paris: Harmattan, 2001.     Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ3980 .A52 K65 2001]

Dictionnaire de l'Histoire de France. Sous la direction de Jean-Frangois Sirinelli; et le conseil éditorial de Daniel Couty. Paris: A.Colin ; Larousse, 1999. 2 vols.    Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference DC35 .D54 1999]

Historical Dictionaries of French History.  This Greenwood Press series covers French history from the Revolution, including political, military, social, economic, and art history:   Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution 1789-1799. [Van Pelt Reference DC147 .H57 1984] Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815. [Van Pelt Reference DC201 .H673 1985] Historical Dictionary of France from the 1815 Restoration to the Second Empire. [Van Pelt Reference DC256 .H57 1987] Historical Dictionary of the French Second Empire 1852-1870.  [Van Pelt Reference DC276 .H57 1985] Historical Dictionary of the Third French Republic, 1870-1940. [Van Pelt Reference DC337 .H57 1986] Historical Dictionary of World War II France: The Occupation, Vichy, and the Resistance, 1938-1946. [Van Pelt Reference DC 397 .H58 1998] Historical Dictionary of the French Fourth and Fifth Republics, 1946-1991. [Van Pelt Reference DC401. H57 1992]

Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle. Frangois Bluche, ed. Paris: Fayard, 1990.   Location: [Van Pelt Reference DC128 .D55 1990]     A 1600+ page dictionary of the era of Louis XVI, spanning seventeenth and eighteenth century France. 

Dictionnaire de la France du XIXe siècle. Sous la direction de Nadine Vivier, Noëlle Dauphin ... [et al.] Paris : Hachette, 2002.   Location: [Van Pelt Reference DC251 .D538 2002]

Boussinot, Roger.L'encyclopédie du cinema. [Paris]: Bordas, c1995. 2 vols.          Location: [Van Pelt Library PN1993.45 .B6 1995]

Dictionnaire du cinéma populaire français: des origines à nos jours. Sous la direction de Christian-Marc Bosséno et Yannick Dehée. Paris: Nouveau monde, 2004. 809 p.               Location: [Van Pelt Reference PN1993.5.F8 .D53 2004]