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Italian Language & Literature

The following is a selected list of (primarily English-language) resources for starting research in Italian language and literature. For further assistance, ask at the Reference Desk or contact Jeff Staiger, Subject Specialist for Italian Language & Literature, jstaiger@uoregon.edu.

Note: items with the off-campus access limited to UO icon are electronic resources available only to University of Oregon faculty, staff, and students, or to users working in the library.

Getting Started

These reference sources can help you identify a topic for your research, provide an overview of a specific issue or topic, and suggest other materials which might be useful for your research.

  • Dictionary of Italian Literature. PQ4006 .D45 1996 Knight Reference.
    Alphabetically organized dictionary with appendices listing authors by subject and chronological period. It includes a timeline for historical context and references for further information.
  • Oxford Companion to Italian Literature. PQ4006 .084 2002 Knight Reference.
    Concise entries covering a wide range of authors and topics in Italian Literature. With a timeline for historical context.
  • Encyclopedia Britannicaoff-campus access limited to UO
    Off-campus access limited to UO students, faculty, and staff.
    Concise, frequently scholarly, articles on many topics of interest to students of literature.
  • See also: People & Organizations for more biographical sources.
  • See the following encyclopedias for articles in Italian:
    • Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. AE35 .E5 .
    • Dizionario Enciclopedico Italiano. AE35 .D516

Dictionaries

The UO Libraries have a variety of language dictionaries available. The following are selected titles from the collection. Browse the shelves in the same call number area to find other titles or do a subject search in the library catalog for italian language dictionaries english. Dictionaries on specialized vocabulary are also available. 

  • Cambridge Italian Dictionary. PC1640.R4 1985 Knight Reference.
  • Il Nuovo dizionario Hazon Garzanti. PC1640 .N85 1990 Knight Reference.
  • Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary. PC1640 .P64 1997 Knight Reference.

Finding Articles

To look for articles in journals, newspapers, or magazines, you will need to start with an index. An index will allow you to look by subject or a few keywords which describe your topic or by author. 

  • MLA International Bibliographyoff-campus access limited to UO
    An index to languages, literature, linguistics & folklore. One of the largest journal indexes of literary criticism. Includes journal article citations as well as references to books, chapters in collections of essays and papers issued as conference proceedings.
  • Academic Search Premieroff-campus access limited to UO
    An interdisciplinary index. Covers 1984-Present. Includes popular as well as scholarly citations from almost 3,000 journals about half of which are full-text from 1990 to present. Academic Search Elite has replaced Expanded Academic Index at UO.
  • The Year's Work in Modern Languages Studies
    Volumes are divided by language, then time period and area. Good to use to get research ideas and learn recent popular topics. After identifying articles that look useful for your research, look up the journal title, not the article title, in the UO Library Catalog to determine if the Library subscribes to the journal and get the call number and location.
  • Lexis_Nexis Academicoff-campus access limited to UO 
    Contains mostly full-text articles from a variety of news sources. Articles can be printed directly from the database.
    • Choose Guided News Search.
    • Choose Non-English Language News.
    • Choose Source: Italian Language News, enter key words, and search.

Finding Books

You can use the library catalog to find books of original works and critical studies in either Spanish or English.

UO Library Catalog

Use the library's search box to look for books by subject, title, or author. A subject search will also allow you to see a display of related subjects that may more narrowly capture your topic.

Orbis/Cascade Alliance Union Catalog (SUMMIT) off-campus access limited to UO

Use the "Summit" catalog of the Orbis/Cascade consortium of Northwest libraries to find materials not held by the UO Library. To request a book from one of the Summit libraries, identify the item you need in this catalog, then select "Request This Item."

WorldCat off-campus access limited to UO

WorldCat provides access to library catalogs from around the world. The database contains bibliographic records describing books, journals, maps, musical scores, manuscripts, etc. Use WorldCat to identify and locate hard-to-find items, then request them through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Finding English Translations

  • UO Library Catalog
    For books, short stories, and poems try searching by author. You may limit the search by language to English. If you don't find the author's work for which you are searching, try the following additional sources:
  • Orbis/Cascade Alliance Union Catalog (SUMMIT)off-campus access limited to UO
    Search the catalog by author or title. Limit the search by language to English.

Short Stories
Short Story Index KNIGHT REFERENCE Z5917.S5S56
Arranged in one alphabetical list by author, English title, and subject. Lists short stories written in or translated into English. Published yearly with 5 year cumulations.
-- Search for author to find story title/collection.
-- Look up collection in "List of Collections Indexed."
-- Search the by collection title.

Poems

Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies KNIGHT REFERENCE PN1022.H39 1990
Granger's Index to Poetry in Collected & Selected Works KNIGHT REFERENCE PN1022.C63
1996
        Use to find poems translated into English. Indexed by author, title, and subject.
-- Search index by author to find English title.
-- Look up title to find collection abbreviation.
-- Look up collection abbreviation to find full title.
-- Search UO Library Catalog for collection title.

Finding Film Information

The following sources may be used to locate information on Italian films and their production.

  • Dizionario del Cinema Italiano.PN1993.5.I88 C485 1991
    A three volume set in Italian divided by years. Each volume is arranged alphabetically and includes references, credits, and brief summaries for each film. Indexes list films chronologically, by director, and by varied titles.
  • Encyclopedia of European Cinema.PN1993.5.E8 V56 1995 Knight Reference.
    Alphabetically organized with brief encyclopedic entries.

People & Organizations

  • Biography and Genealogy Master Indexoff-campus access limited to UO
    An index to hundreds of sources of biographical information of people worldwide from all time periods. Find a citation in BGMI, then search for it in the UO Library Catalog.
  • Contemporary Authors. Index Table 10 Knight Reference
    A large, multi-volume set. Use the cumulative index at the end of the set to learn who is included.
  • Italian Women Writers. PQ4063 .I88 1994 Knight Reference
    Alphabetically organized biographical dictionary. Each entry includes a survey of criticism and a bibliography which provides citations to translations. Contains indices by title and subject.

Web Resources

Maintained by: Jeff Staiger, jstaiger@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 05/21/2007