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This guide lists Web sites, reference tools, primary source collections, and research strategies that will be of use to students in Umberto Eco's Postmodern Middle Ages, 214.677. Please contact Sue Waterman with questions or comments about this guide. Students are welcome to schedule an appointment for additional assistance with research for this class or for assistance with any of the resources referenced on this guide.
Find Background Information on Umberto Eco and the Middle Ages
Dictionary of the Middle Ages. General Reference : D 114 .D51 1982 QUARTO An essential background resource
The Medieval World.General Reference : D 117 .M43 2001. Good sections on things like sexuality, space, urban landscape, death, gender, penance, everyday life, symbolism, crime, hermeticism.
Mythologies. Yves Bonnefoy (2 volumes). The classic encyclopedia of ritual, religion, myth, symbols, the occult. General Reference: BL 311 .D5113 1991
The idea of the book in the Middle Ages. Jesse Gellrich. D Level: Z 6 .G441 1985
On the medieval theory of signs. edited by Umberto Eco and Costantino Marmo. D Level: P 99 .O525 1989
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. (2 volumes) General Reference: CB 351 .E53 2000
Encyclopedia of Monasticism. (2 volumes) General Reference: BL 631 .J85 2000
The Knights Templar : a new history. B Level: CR 4743.N53 2001
To search for books aboutSpain,use theAlphabetical Searchoption and set the search box toSubjects -- Library of Congress. Try any or all of the following Subject Headings
You can use any of the above words, and any other words or names that describe your project, in a Keyword Search as well. For best results, do a Subject Keyword search, or a Title Keyword search.
Get to know the very interesting CB section of the stacks. Lots of interesting stuff on medievalism and intellectual history. Browse on B Level AND in the catalog
Expand your search beyond JHU and search the database ofWorldCat. Includes books and other materials in all US research libraries. It's very easy to request anything in WorldCat, directly from the databases, from Interlibrary Services.
Google Bookscan be used in very interesting ways to find books about a subject. Because of the vast number of books being digitized, you can find references to subjects that you could never otherwise find. Try searching on Umberto Eco, and/or postmodernism and/or medieval, or even a passage (quotation) from one of the texts. You will be amazed at what you can find.
Find Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers
LIAB: Letteratura italiana, aggiornamento bibliografico. Covers materials published 1991-present but including all time periods of Italian literature, including books, articles, and reviews. Organized by time period, with several indexes, including Subjects, Authors, Keywords, Periodical titles, Publishers. A necessary complement to the databases. General Reference: Z 2354 .C8 L474
BIGLI: Bibliografia generale della lingua e della letteratura italiana. Annual index to articles and book studies in Italian literature. Fills in the gaps of the MLA, which is heavily slanted toward English-language sources. A bit difficult to use, and always years behind in publication, but an essential tool for Italian literary studies. General Reference: PC 1073 .B53 (1991-2003)
Novecento letterario italian repertorio bibliografico. One large bibliography on 20th century Italian literature. Covers everything, from history and theory of literature to individual writers. An essential tool. D Level Blue Labels: PC 1071 .I87 1996
Studi novecenteschi. A periodical really, that includes articles on 20th century Italian literature. However, each year includes a substantial section, Rassegna bibliografica, that lists studies on individual authors, literary movements, cinema, genres, and more. Very useful tool for 20th century studies. D Level Blue Labels: PQ 4087 .S87 (earlier volumes in LSC)
Notes about finding journal articles:
Some articles are available in electronic full-text and some are not.
Use the link in the databases above to find out what options are available.
You can also verify electronic access to a particular journal by consulting the library's E-Journals Page.
If you cannot find electronic access, use the JHU Libraries Catalog to determine if the library has a print copy of the journal that you need. Use the Alphabetical Search option to search for the Journal Title.
You can always ask for help finding a journal article at the Information Desk on M-level.
Selected Research Resources
Dizionario del Pendolo di Foucault. PG 1865.C6 P432 1989
The key to the Name of the Rose D Level: PG 1865 .C6 N6345 1987
Medieval Christian literary imagery : a guide to interpretation. R.E. Kaske. An indispensable bibliography of sources on more than just religion. Libraries Service Center: BR 117 .K33 1988
Medieval Studies: a bibliographic guide. Important tool for any area of medieval studies. General Reference : CB 351 .Z9C76 1983
LIZ :Letteratura Italiana Zanichelli
(Eisenhower AV)
Full text database of 780 works of Italian literature, representing 182 major and minor authors. Request the CD in Audio/Visual Center on A Level. Comp File 1681
The standard encyclopaedia for medieval studies. It deals with all branches of Medieval Studies and covers the period from 300 to 1500 AD/CE for the whole of Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
Covers all the works from the classical period, the most important patristic works, a very extensive corpus of Medieval Latin literature and works of later Latin, including texts from the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The complete works of writers such as Cicero, Virgil, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Anselm of Canterbury, Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Kempis are included.
This full-text version of the Abbe Migne's edition of Patristic and early Medieval religious texts provides a thorough overview of the making of Western religious thought from the late Classical period to the early 13th century.
Contains 1498 vernacular texts, the majority of which are dated prior to 1375, the year of Boccaccio's death. The verse and prose works include early masters of Italian literature like Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, as well as lesser-known and obscure texts by poets, merchants, and medieval chroniclers.
Medieval Manuscript Manual: a very valuable, in-depth resource for the study of manuscripts. Includes sections on materials and techniques, patronage, typology of the medieval book, and glossary.
link in the databases above to find out what options are available.