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German Studies

A research guide to help you find relevant books and articles as well as databases and web portals in the field of German Studies.

Info

This section supplements the Research Guide to German Literature.

Bibliographies

One of the most important international bibliographies of German literature, literary history and criticism, as well as language studies. It indexes books, chapters in books, periodical articles and book reviews. Annually edited. The free online database covers the years 1985-1995.

Essential bibliography of 4,600 German literary and philological journals published between 1700-1926. By subject, with chronological subarrangement. Title and editor indexes.

A bibliography for German literary history from the baroque era.

A bibliography of first editions of German Literature, covering 1600-1990.

A bibliography of Exile Literature (1933-1945).

A major serial bibliography of publications on German language and literature.

One of the most comprehensive and reliable specialist international bibliographies on German literature from the Enlightenment to the Romantic and pre-revolutionary period - the so-called 'Vormärz.' Each installment records about 5,000 publications in German and other languages. Covers editions of classical authors as well as monographs, contributions in collections and journals, university publications, commemorative volumes and sound recordings. A combined index of names and subjects completes the bibliography. For the authors of the German Classical Age included here, both primary and secondary literature has been recorded. Published annually, the last printed issue was released in 2008. Now supplemented by the comprehensive free online datase "Klassik online" that comprises the printed issues since 1990 as well as the continuation after 2008 and online publications. 

A bibliography of scientific publications on New German Literature, covering 1921-1955.

A bibliography of studies on German literature history.

Electronic Resources

The major union of Germanists who work at schools, universities, training centres and research institutions. Encourages the discussion about research, teaching and training and maintains the connection to the German teachers at home and abroad. Provides a lot of information about conferences as well as addresses of Institutes of German Studies worldwide.

A major Gateway to information about German linguistics and literature. Provides an extensive web portal to internet resources as well as a combined search option in various German library catalogues.

An information portal on German and Latin literature of the Middle Ages. Provides a lot of  information and links to relevant websites, bibliographic search tools, special resources and databases, manuscripts, news from the area of German Studies researchers etc.

The major database for world literature, covering all areas of modern literatures, languages, folklore, and linguistics. Coverage includes literature from all over the world. While the majority of records are from English-language publications, at least sixty other languages are represented including French, Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese, Norwegian and Swedish. From 1921 to 1955, mostly U.S. publications are indexed. MLA includes over 4,400 periodicals (including peer-reviewed e-journals) and series and consists of over 1.6 million citations for articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, essays, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and Web sites.

Digitized German classical literature online.

Dictionaries

An English-language dictionary for German literary terms.

A major German encyclopedia in 8 volumes, covering world literature.

Presents a critical look at German literature and culture from an Anglo-American perspective. In English.

Multi-volume encyclopedia, covering world literature from its earliest inception to the present, with a focus on contemporary works. Provides information about the origin and context of the works.

Dictionary of literary characters and characteristics. Includes German and international literature.

A comprehensive dictionary of socialist literature in Germany prior to 1945. It contains about 450 articles, mostly referring to authors. Many of the entries can also be found in the Killy-Encyclopedia; however, this dictionary is a good supplement.

Dictionaries of Authors

A comprehensive one-volume dictionary of German-language authors of the 20th century.

Encyclopedia of German-language authors, from the early Middle Ages to the present. Includes non-fiction authors, translators etc. The continuation "Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon: das 20. Jahrhundert" focuses on the 20th century.
 
A continuation of Goedeke's Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung for coverage of nineteenth century German literature. It includes writers who were first published between 1830 and 1880. For major writers, the entries include short biographies and very extensive bibliographies. Also lists unpublished and lost works.
 
Biographical Dictionary covering the Middle Ages.
 
Loose-leaf, multi-volume publication that provides updated information on the biographies, work and influence of German-speaking authors since 1945. Coverage also includes songwriters and film directors. Provides extensive primary and secondary-source bibliographies. For updates after 1999, consult the CD-ROM version of the dictionary.

A who's who of living German novelists.
 
A very comprehensive and useful guide to contemporary German authors and literature. Provides biographic, bibliographic and monographic information about 750 authors, making it a good alternative to the more extended KLG.

A multi-volume dictionary of Jewish-German authors that also covers non-literary authors.

Another comprehensive dictionary of German-language authors. The second volume focuses on the 20th century.

Lexikon deutschsprachiger Schriftstellerinnen im Exil, 1933-1945
Dictionary of German-language women authors in exile, covering 1933-1945.

A multi-volume encyclopedia considered one of the most important sources for information about German-language authors. Contains more than 10,000 articles, covering the history of literature in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other German-language regions from the early Middle Ages to the present. Contains biographical and bibliographical data as well as analyses. Vols. 1-12 provide information about authors and their work; vol. 13 and 14 contain information on terms, epochs, genres etc.; vol. 15 contains index.

A comprehensive guide to more than 3000 German-language authors. Coverage is from the Middle Ages to the present.

Dictionary of German-Jewish literature that contains information about 300 authors, spanning from the 18th century until the present.

English-language encyclopedia representing feminist scholarship in the literary field. Provides information about influential women in the history of German literature and culture.

An English-language dictionary of German literature from 800 AD to the 1990s. Lists authors, titles, characters etc. alphabetically.

Term Dictionaries

Dictionary referring to term usage within German literary science.

A dictionary of terms, genres, periods etc. of German literature.