Research Guides: *Comparative Literature*: Background

Etymology

Oxford English Dictionary
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Contains the complete text of the 20-volume OED, 2nd edition, published in 1989. Presents the words that have formed the English vocabulary from the time of the earliest records down to the present day, with all the relevant facts concerning their form, sense, history, pronunciation, and etymology. Coverage current.

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
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A full-text searchable database of articles on individual critics and theorists, critical and theoretical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. It also treats related persons and fields that have been shaped by or have themselves shaped literary theory and criticism. Each entry includes a selective primary and secondary bibliography.

The new Princeton encyclopedia of poetry and poetics
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"Provides a comprehensive reference for those interested in the history of poetry or in any aspect of the technique or criticism of poetry. Provides surveys of national poetries; descriptions of poetic forms and genres; detailed explanations of the devices of prosody and rhetoric; and overviews of all major schools of poetry ancient and modern, Western and Eastern."