Ready Reference Sources

Language Resources
Note: Many additional dictionaries and grammar guides may be found in both the Reference collection and the general stacks.

• The Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (French-English). 2nd ed. 1998
  [website] Also available in paper: Main Ref. PC 2640.83 1997
  
• Grand Larousse de la langue française. 7 vols. 1971-1978.
  Main Ref. PC 2625 G7
• Le nouveau petit Robert. 2000.
  Main Ref. PC 2625 R553 2000
• Le grand Robert de la langue française. 6 vols. 2001
  Main Ref. PC 2625.R552 2001
  
• Leximagne - l'empereur des pages dico.
  -Website linking to "nearly 1000 electronic French dictionaries, glossaries and wordlists" in a wide variety of fields including food, cosmetics, computer science, and dialects.
• Le bon usage. 1980.
  Main Ref. PC 2112 G84 1980

Literature Resources (General)
Note: The following is a sampling of the works available at Mt. Holyoke that survey French literature.

• A New History of French Literature. 1989
  -Essays on French literature arranged chronologically written by leading scholars in each area. The essays covers literary themes and movements, a few highly influential authors and works, and connections between literature and politics.
  Main Ref. PQ 119 N48 1989
• Guide to French Literature. 2 vols. 1992.
  -Vol. 1 covers the beginnings to 1789, vol. 2 covers 1789 to the 1980's. Most of the articles focus on a single author and include a biography, descriptions of the author's works, and a bibliography.
  Main Ref. PQ 41 L48 1992
• Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. 6 vols. 1992.
  -Revised edition of a work originally published 1951-1960. It is arranged by century: v. 1 covers the Middle Ages, v. 2 covers the 16th cent., v. 3. covers the 17th cent., v. 4 covers the 18th cent., and v. 6 covers the 20th cent.
  Main Ref. PQ 41 D53 1992
  
• Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. 4 vols. 1994.
  -A guide to most French and francophone authors, genres, and geographic areas from the 15th-20th centuries. Extensive indices are included.
  Main Ref. PQ 41 B4 1994
• The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French. 1995.
  -The best one-volume starting point for French and francophone literature.
  Main Ref. PQ 41 N48 1995

Literature Resources (Specialized)
Note: The following is a sampling of the works available at Mt. Holyoke that survey specific periods, genres, and/or countries. Many additional titles are available both in the Reference collection and in the main stacks.

• Bibliographie des auteurs africains de langue française. 4e. éd. 1979.
  -This work is arranged by country. For each country works about the literature of the country are provide first, followed by a listing of the works by authors from that country.
  Main Ref. Z 3508 L5 B3
• Contemporary theatre, film & television. 1984-
  -An on-going set containing biographical information on a wide range of entertainment figures including behind-the-scenes specialists such as set designers. Coverage is heaviest for the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, but other countries are included. Each entry includes personal data such as date/place of birth and address, awards, credits, and brief bibliographies. Each volume includes a cumulative index to all previous volumes.
  Main Ref. PN 2205 W4523
• Dictionnaire littéraire des femmes de langue française. 1996.
  -Subtitled "De Marie de France à Marie NDiaye", this one-volume work brings together information on women authors from a number of sources. Arranged alphabetically, each entry gives name, dates, nature of work (e.g., essayiste, romancière), and bibliography; some entries also have a critical essay.
  Main Ref. PQ 149 M35 1996
• Seventeenth-Century French Writers. 2002.
  -One of many volumes in the series "Dictionary of literary biography" which provides extensive essays on individual authors grouped by period and genre. Each article includes a chronological list of the author's work, as well as a selected bibliography for further reading.
  Main Ref. PQ 241 S48 2002
  

Historical and Cultural Resources
Note: The following is just a sampling of the reference materials that provide background information on francophone cultures and countries. The reference collection includes many additional works.

• Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. 35 vols. in 5. 1969.
  -This is a reprint of the first of the great modern encyclopedias,, edited by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, published 1751-1776. Among its features are the extensive illustrations of eighteenth-century trades, mechanical arts, and medicine.
  Main Ref. AE 25 E53 1751a
  
• Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture. 1998.
  - Provides short entries on people, organizations and concepts across the range of French culture; some entries have short bibliographies. Examples of entries are: Coco Chanel, "France dimanche", Gipsy Kings, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, immigration.
  Main Ref. DC 33.7 E53 1998
• Countries and Their Cultures. 4 vols. 2001.
  -Provides illustrated articles on significant cultural events, beliefs and practices of the countries of the world.
  Main Ref. GN 307 C68 2001
• Historical Dictionary of the French Second Empire, 1852-1870. 1985.
  -One of a series of dictionaries on major historical eras. Each of these longer entries includes a short bibliography. There is also a year-by-year chronology of major cultural and political themes. Examples of entries are: Rosa Bonheur, elections, economic crises, "La liberté", "Les Rougon-Macquart".
  Main Ref. DC 276 H57 1985
• Medieval France, an encyclopedia. 1995.
  -Provides fairly short entries on all aspects of medieval France; each entry includes a short bibliography. There are also lists of popes, kings, dukes and counts. Examples of entries are: Arabic influence on literature, Cabochiens, "Lit de justice", Mont-Saint-Michel.
  
• Histoire et dictionnaire de Paris. 1996.
  -This is one of several works in Main Reference that is specifically about Paris. This book is arranged by broad areas: events, occupations/economy, chronology, bibliography/discography/filmography, and name indices. There is also an alphabetical section covering a wide range of ideas such as: Crédit municipal, cloches, numérotage des maisons.
  Main Ref. DC 704 F53 1996

Searching for Books and Films

French language and literature materials may be found throughout the library stacks. Two places that might be useful for browsing, however, are the PC section (for language) and PQ21-3989 section (for literature). You may search for books and videos by author, title or subject using the Five College Online Library Catalog.

An alphabetical list of French films on video and DVD (both with and without captions) is most easily created by searching the Five College online library catalog under the subject heading: Motion pictures, French and then limiting your search under "WHERE Item is Located" to Mount Holyoke.

Writing Papers

Help writing your papers is available from many sources on the campus. The reference librarians (Williston Library x2212) can help you refine your topic and search for the books, articles and images you will need in order to write the paper. The Speaking, Arguing, and Writing Program (Porter Hall x2561) can help you polish your writing and delivery styles. Some help is also available online, particularly the style manuals that tell how to cite the sources you use in your paper.

Bibliographies and Indices

• Arts and Humanities Search (1980-present)
  -A major index to thousands of humanities journals. Available online via the Web of Science (select the Arts and Humanities Citation Index).
• Humanities Abstracts (1974-present) 
  -Available online (1984-present) via FirstSearch. This index covers about 400 journals in archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, journalism, linguistics, the fine arts, philosophy, religion, world history, and world literature; also available in print (1974-1985) as the "Humanities Index": Main Periodicals.
• MLA Bibliography (1963-present)
  -The Modern Languages Association International Bibliography indexes critical scholarship on literature, languages, linguistics and folklore. Provides approximately 1,200,000 records to over 3,500 international publications including journals, books, series, dissertations, bibliographies, working papers, proceedings, and other materials. Updated ten times a year. The index is available in paper format from 1921-1962 in the Main Reference Room, call number: PN 1 M64 REF. The most recent edition of the companion to the bibliography, "MLA Directory of Periodicals: a Guide to Journals and Series in Languages and Literatures", is held in the Main Reference Room, call number: PN 161 M3 1999.
• Bibliographie der französischen Literaturwissenschaft (1956/58-present)
  -Also called "Bibliographie d'historie littéraire de la France", this is an annual, unannotated listing of books and articles on French literature, both the literary texts themselves and critical works. Vols. for 1990-present are located in the Main Reference Room, call number: Z 2171 B56; earlier volumes are in the Main stacks.
• International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-present)
  - Indexes approximately 100 film-related journals. Topics include history of cinema, the film industry, themes in film, and film criticism as well as articles and reviews of individual films and biographies and interviews of people associated with film. This index is available only in paper and may be found at PN 1993 I653 REF.

Newspapers and General-Interest Magazines

Note: Many other newspapers from French-speaking countries may be found through theworldpress.com.

France

• L'Express - The library has from 1966-present in paper; this week's issue is available online.
• Le Figaro - This week's issue is available online.
• Liberation - Today's issue is available online.
• Le Monde - The library keeps 6 months in paper; today's paper is available online.
• Le Nouvel observateur - The library has from 1973-present in paper; this week's issue is available online.
• Le Point - This week's issue is available online.

Francophone Countries

• Jeune Afrique l'intelligent - The library has from 2000-present in paper, as well as this magazine's earlier title, "Jeune Afrique". This week's issue is available online.
• Le Jour - A daily newspaper from Côte d'Ivoire.
• Le Soleil - A daily newpaper published in Québec.
• La Tribune - An independent daily newspaper from Algeria.

Literary Prizes

The are a great many literary prizes issued each year for writing in French; the Académie française alone presents more than 50 prizes in medals and cash awards ranging from 750-45,000 Euros. A few of these prizes are listed below.

• Prix femina - Originally called "Prix femina-Vie heureuse", it has been awarded annually since 1904 by a panel of women judges to "une œuvre d'imagination".
• Prix Goncourt - Awarded annually since 1921 by the Académie Goncourt for the single best imaginative prose work in French, preferably a novel, published in the preceding year.
• Prix de la biographie - Awarded annually since 1987 by the Académie française for the best biography published in the preceding year; the number of books honored varies from year to year.

French on the Internet

There are many websites devoted to French language, literature, culture, politics, etc. The University of Adelaide has compiled an excellent selection of sites ranging from live radio and tv to electronic texts and links to search engines in French. A few specific sites that might interest you are listed below.

• ARTFL - a cooperative French-American research database of texts (including 88 texts by French women authors from the 16th to the 19th century), bibliographies, reference works such as "Trésor de la langue française", and a searchable version of Diderot and d'Alembert's "Encyclopédie".
• Moteurs de recherche francophones - a webpage within the University of Adelaide site with links to 8 search engines in French, and to pages explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the major search engines.
• Festival international du film - the official, bilingual, website of the Cannes Film Festival will tell you just about everything you want to know, including jury members and lists of winners back to 1945. (Note: the site has a black background and may be difficult to read on some machines).
• Festival international de Films de femmes - information on an annual festival devolted to films by women; the festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in spring 2003.
• The Boston French Center - a joint venture of the Alliance Française of Boston and Cambridge and The French Library and Cultural Center. On the website you can check out their calendar of events, search their library catalog of the second biggest French-language library in the U.S., or join either organization.
• Frenchculture.org - the official website of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States. It contains information on current "events" in the arts including literature, film, music and television. It also sponsors contests and maintains a regional calendar.