LibGuides: ALC 205: Introduction to East Asian Literature: Getting Started

Tertiary Sources for Literature

Literature Resource Center
Contains articles from subject encyclopedias, academic journals and literary magazines as well as excerpts from scholarly monographs, literary correspondence and diaries. Coverage of East Asian literatures is uneven, so you may need to try other options as well.

The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature by Joshua S. Mostow; Kirk A. Denton; Bruce Fulton (Assisted by); Lewis Cook (Assisted by); Sharalyn Orbaugh
Call Number: Click on title and then on "Ebook Central Academic Complete" to access the book electronically. If you'd prefer a physical book, there's a copy in the main stacks, call number PL493 .C55 2003 (third floor)
Publication Date: 2003
Includes more than one hundred articles that show how a host of authors and literary movements have contributed to the general literary development of their respective countries. Comprehensive thematic essays introduce each geographical section with historical overviews and surveys of persistent themes in the literature examined. Following the thematic essays are the individual entries: over forty for China, over fifty for Japan, and almost thirty for Korea, featuring everything from detailed analyses of the works of Tanizaki Jun'ichiro and Murakami Haruki, to far-ranging explorations of avant-garde fiction in China and postwar novels in Korea.
Encyclopedia of the Novel by Paul Schellinger, ed.
Call Number: Print Reference PN 41 E487 1998, vols. 1-2
Publication Date: 1998
This reference work includes entries on several specific Chinese and Japanese novels, and also includes overviews of the history of the novel as a genre in both countries.

You also may wish to look at handbooks, overviews, or histories. Here are the Library of Congress Subject Headings to get you started:

Chinese literature -- History and criticism

Japanese literature -- History and criticism

Korean literature -- History and criticism

If you are in the local Tacoma area, you can request books from Collins and SUMMIT libraries. If you are not local, you can request scans of chapters within books via Primo.

Tertiary Sources for History & Culture

Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan by Gen Itsaka (Editor); Edwin O. Reischauer (Editor); Shigeto Tsuru (Editor)
Call Number: DS805 .K633 Print Books
Publication Date: 1983
This nine-volume reference contains over 10,000 articles exploring every aspect of Japanese society, history, politics, economy, thought and culture. The 50,000-item index is cross-referenced for easy location of facts.
Berkshire Encyclopedia of China by Mary Bagg (Editor)
Call Number: Click on the title above for online access.
Publication Date: 2008
Provides insight into Chinese history and culture today in nearly a thousand articles that include everything from Adoption and Banking to Wound Literature and the Zhou Dynasty
Encyclopedia of Modern China by David Pong
Call Number: Click on the title above for online access.
Publication Date: 2009
Encyclopedia of Modern Asia by David Levinson; Karen Christensen
Call Number: Click on the title above for online access.
Publication Date: 2002
Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy by Oliver Leaman (Editor)
Call Number: B121 .E53 2001 Reference
ISBN: 9780415172813
Publication Date: 2001
From Abhidharma to Zurvan, this encyclopedia identifies and defines the principal concepts and individuals in Asian philosophy throughout the world.
Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd edition by Lindsay Jones
Call Number: Click title for online access.
Publication Date: 2005
Includes entries on Japanese and Chinese myth, and on intersections between religion and literature in the two countries.

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Subjects: African American Studies, Arts & Art History, Asian Studies, Classics, Communication Studies, Music, Theatre Arts

Work with a Peer Research Advisor!

Fall 2021

Kai Bahls and Maya Horten are your Peer Research Advisors for 2021-22!

Beginning on September 12, Kai and Maya will be available in Library 146 as follows:

Sundays: 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Mondays: 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Tuesdays: 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Wednesdays: 6:00pm to 8:00pm

What's a tertiary source?

Tertiary sources are excellent starting points! They consist of information synthesized from primary and secondary sources. Examples include:

Almanacs
Chronologies
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Directories
Fact books
Guidebooks
Indexes, abstracts, bibliographies used to locate primary and secondary sources
Manuals or handbooks
Textbooks

These resources give you succinct overviews of your topic, explain scholarly arguments, point out interesting questions, and refer you to especially key sources. For the purpose of your annotated bibliography assignment in ALC 205, look for more substantial entries in subject encyclopedias or handbooks.