Essential Reference Works

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

  • Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française (Larousse): Comprehensive biographical dictionary
  • Encyclopedia of French Literature (Routledge): English-language reference
  • Dictionnaire du littéraire (PUF): Theoretical and critical terms
  • The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French: Authoritative English guide

Literary Histories

  • Histoire de la littérature française (multiple volumes, Arthaud)
  • A New History of French Literature (Harvard University Press)
  • The Cambridge History of French Literature
  • Histoire littéraire des femmes françaises (Focus on women writers)