Research Guides: Lang 480 World Mythology &amp; Folklore: Books, Handbooks and Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias on Culture

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Culture
Call Number: DP233.5 .E63 1999
Publication Date: 1999-07-26
Some 750 alphabetically-arranged entries provide insights into recent cultural and political developments within Spain, including the cultures of Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque country. Coverage spans from the end of the Civil War in 1939 to the present day, with emphasis on the changes following the demise of the Franco dictatorship in 1975. Entries range from shorter, factual articles to longer overview essays offering in-depth treatment of major issues.
Countries, Peoples and Cultures (link to Online Versions)
Publication Date: 2015
Scroll down to see the eBook volume for Western Europe

Online Reference Resources

Reference resources can help you get started on your research by providing background information, identifying important researchers on a topic, and defining key concepts and terms. Also a good source for images.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Online reference tools
Grove Art Online/Oxford Art Online
This online Art encyclopedia and handbook provides an introduction, further resources and images. Note: Access is limited to 3 simultaneous users. If you can't gain access, try again later.

Books from Chester Fritz Library

Chester Fritz Library has books on the topic of Spain history, customs and travel highlights.

Select the Books, Media and more drop-down menu option in the search from the library's homepage
Books on Spain can be online or located mostly on the 4th floor DP section
Try these searches:
- Spain civilization
- Spain Customs
- Spain Travel
- Spain Art
Below are some book search results:

Contemporary Spain
Call Number: DP26 .R66 2002
Publication Date: 2002-12-26
Packed with essential information on politics, the economy, and institutions, it covers the basics that are taken for granted by most Spaniards. Intended for readers without specialist knowledge in any of the subjects concerned, this is a valuable handbook for English-speaking students of Spanish. Each chapter contains a suggested reading list and a Spanish-English glossary in context. Covering Spanish history, power structures and Spanish society, the handbook provides a vast amount of information, geared to students' needs.
Contemporary Spanish Cultural Studies
Call Number: DP48 .C594 2000
Publication Date: 2000-05-11
Focusing on the developments over the last twenty years in Spain, this stimulating book contains twenty-eight original essays, by recognized specialists, that offer a new interdisciplinary approach to contemporary Spanish culture and society. Combining overviews and case studies, the essays range widely over a diverse series of topic areas, including race, nationalism and identity, the media, gender and sex, religion, sport, and shopping.
The Regions of Spain
Call Number: DP48 .K45 1995
Publication Date: 1995-10-10
This is the first complete reference book on Spanish history, life, and culture from prehistory to 1994 and the only book on Spain in English or Spanish that is organized by region and province. It is designed to assist students and interested readers in identifying and understanding regional and provincial history, economy, literature, art, music, social customs and cultural life, historic sites, and provincial cuisine (recipes included). Organized into entries on the 18 regions and subdivided into the 50 provinces, this one-stop reference makes gathering information on each region and province easy.

Spanish Art Books

Spanish, Christian and Islamic art books can online or located on the 3rd floor N section or the 1st floor Oversize collection. Oversize "coffee table" books have a lot of images and we have scanners in the library!

Surrealism and the Spanish Civil War
Call Number: N7108.5.S87 G74 2006
Publication Date: 2006-09-15
How might artistic practice offer unique insight into the cataclysmic debacle of war? Surrealism and the Spanish Civil War plumbs this provocative question through an ambitious account of a pivotal period in European cultural history. The book focuses on the relation between artistic endeavor and politics during a period of social crisis. By scrutinizing the widely varying responses to the Spanish Civil War in the work of Miro, Dali, Caballero, Masson, and Picasso, the author investigates Surrealism's efforts to bridge the divide between political thought and political act. Robin Adele Greeley examines such central works as Miro's Still Life with Old Shoe and Dali's Autumn Cannibalism in the context of contemporary works and historical events. She also examines such topics as Surrealism's flirtations with fascism, the movement's relations with the Communist Party and the Popular Front, and the distinct development of Spanish versus French Surrealism. She concludes with an in-depth discussion of Picasso's Guernica.
Art and Architecture of Spain
Call Number: N7101 .H5313 1998
Publication Date: 1998-10-01
Three millennia of Spain's masterworks and major artistic personalities is illustrated in new colour photography for this survey. Fourteen original essays, each by a prominent specialist, cover the the following topics: prehistory and first contacts with Mediterranean antiquity; Roman art and architecture in Spain; from antiquity to the Middle Ages; Christianization and the Visigothic world; pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art; Gothic Spain; the presence of Islam and Arab art; the art of the Renaissance; the baroque; the art of colonial America; Francisco Goya; the 19th century; Spanish art from 1900 to 1939; Pablo Picasso and contemporary art; and architecture and design. Each chapter includes illustrated mini essays highlighting subjects of special interest: for example, recent discoveries of prehistoric art, a stunning Apocalypse made in the year 1078 and the 20th-century Catalan master architect Antoni Gaudi.

Academic Book Reviews

How To Limit Library Search Results to Reviews:

Select the Articles drop down menu option in Library Search
On the right, under the bold heading Revise, you can refine your search. Select under Resource Type and choose Reviews.
You can further narrow your search by topic, author, and publication year.