Criticism of national or regional literatures, or of the works of certain
classes of authors or of particular literary movements, genres or historical
periods is found using combinations of terms searched as keywords and/or by LC
Subject searches in the MSU Catalog.
Keyword (Word) searching is a good way to begin the process of identifying
sources. Viewing individual records retrieved through keyword searching is in
turn a good way to identify useful LC subject terms. An LC Subject search of the
term "Spanish drama," for example, leads to an index screen which breaks down
the 800 item retrieval set by subject subdivisions, eg., Spanish
drama--History and Criticism; Spanish drama--17th
Century; Spanish drama--Collections. In
this way, more focused retrieval sets are identified.
Monograph length works on individual authors can be found in the catalog by searching the author's name as an LC Subject search. The subdivision "Criticism and interpretation" is added for general criticism of a given author.
To find monograph length treatments of a specific work, search the title of the work as an LC Subject search. The Imagery of the Libro de buen amor is found through an LC Subject search on "Libro de buen amor." The same search will also retrieve bibliographies and concordances of individual works.
Scroll down to Terms You Need to Know (or What is Common Knowledge?) courtesy of Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services.
Ask Mary Jo Zeter, Latin American & Caribbean Studies Bibliographer