Research guides: South Asian studies: Culture

Music

Encyclopedias

Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online: Volume 5 - South Asia
- includes bibliography of recordings
Grove Music Online
- encyclopedia of music and musicians
- South-east Asia entry
Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India

Recordings

Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
- stream recordings online
- search for the country title or browse the "World" genre category
Smithsonian Global Sound This link opens in a new window
- stream music online or send to your mobile device
- browse by language, place or cultural group

Library Catalogue
- UTL has a vast collection of audio recordings
- type in keywords and change "Format" drop down menu to "Sound Recordings"

Databases

Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
- comprehensive range of scholarly and popular music journals
- includes ethnomusicology
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
- bibliography of music publications
- good coverage of South Asian topics
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window
- major database for South Asian studies
- excellent coverage of music

more databases

Film

Encyclopedias

Cyclopaedia of Indian cinema
- copies available in Robarts Library
Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia
- copies available at Robarts, UTM, UTSC and Innis Libraries

Key Journals

Studies in South Asian film & media
- 2009+
- online journal
BioScope: South Asian screen studies
- 2010+
- online journal
South Asian cinema
- 2001+
- print journal available at Innis College Library

Recordings

South Asian cinema titles
- available at the Media Commons

Databases

Film & Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window
- scholarly and popular film and television journals
- includes South Asian topics
FIAF International Film Archive This link opens in a new window
- international coverage of film and television journals
- includes South Asian topics
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window
- major database for South Asian studies
- excellent coverage of film

Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire

more databases

Visual culture

Encyclopedias

Dictionary of South and Southeast Asian Art
- available at Robarts Library

Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
- search four Oxford University Press art encyclopedias at once
- includes subject entries for South Asia

Online Image Libraries

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
- search or browse by geography
- links to outside collections:

FADIS
- search or browse the South Asian collection
Princeton University Library South Asian Studies
- links to other online image repositories
Images - Digital South Asian Library
- links to other online image repositories
Tasveer Ghar
- international project on digital archiving of South Asian popular visual culture
- open access to collection of visual essays

Databases

Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
- major database for art secondary sources
- good coverage of South Asian topics
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window
- major database for South Asian studies
- excellent coverage of art

more databases

Literature

Encyclopedias

The Literary Encyclopedia
- authoritative profiles of authors, works and literary and historical topics
- grows by over 60 articles per month
Indian Novel
- article in Encyclopedia of the Novel, by Priya Joshi
- found in the Literature Online database

South Asian literature in English: An encyclopedia
Who's who in twentieth-century world poetry
- online encyclopedia
- good South Asian coverage

Literary works

If you know the name of a particular literary work or author, look it up in the library catalogue using the transliteration tables.

If you would like to find literary works, try browsing the following subject headings:

South and Southeast Asian Literature in English This link opens in a new window
- online collection of fiction and poetry written in English by authors from South and Southeast Asia and their Diasporas

Need literary criticism? Search a database, or add the subject headings "criticism and interpretation" or "history and criticism" to your catalogue search.

Databases

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
- good coverage of South Asian literary criticism
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window
- major database for South Asian studies
- excellent coverage of literary arts

Perso-Indica Site (international research and publishing project)
- aims to produce a comprehensive online critical survey of Persian works on Indian learned traditions
- focus on treatises and translations produced in India, 13-19th centuries

more databases

Dance

Encyclopedias

International Encyclopedia of Dance
- online
- good coverage of South Asian dance topics
The Oxford Dictionary of Dance
- online
- basic explanations of South Asian dance topics

Recordings

Dance in Video This link opens in a new window
- some coverage of Indian dance

Classical Dances of India
- VHS available at the Media Commons

Databases

Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
- good coverage of South Asian dance topics
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window
- major database for South Asian studies
- excellent coverage of dance

Links

South Asian dance styles (SADA UK)

Drama

Encyclopedias

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
- available online
- good coverage of South Asian topics
Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre
- available online
- coverage of Indian, Bangladeshi, and Tamil people
World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre v. 5 - Asia/Pacific
- available online
- excellent coverage of South Asian topics

Plays

Try searching the library catalogue with your topic's language, country, or region as a keyword, and any of the following as a subject:

Drama
Theater
Dramatic production
Performance
Performing arts

Useful subject headings include

Asian American Drama This link opens in a new window
- online collection of Asian-American/Canadian drama
- primary focus is East Asian, but South Asian authors also included

Need criticism? Search a database, or add the subject headings "criticism and interpretation" or "history and criticism" to your catalogue search.

Databases

Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
- good coverage of South Asian drama
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
- good coverage of South Asian drama
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window
- major database for South Asian studies
- excellent coverage of drama topics

Religion

U of T has many useful research guides on religion. Try the Major Religious Traditions guide (includes pages on Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and other faiths from Asia), or see all guides on religion.

Research Guides

South Asian studies

Music

Film

Visual culture

Literature

Dance

Drama

Religion

Library links

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