Searching MLA Bibliography by Subject
The MLA Bibliography (MLA) is published by the Modern Language Association. Therefore, it includes citations for sources about all modern (i.e. contemporary) languages (except materials related to pedagogy), literature, folklore, and linguistics. However, note that for the literature portion of the MLA (emphasized on this Web page) that an author's works first must be deemed "literature" before inclusion in the MLA. Once deemed literary, MLA gives as comprehensive as possible coverage of materials about that author's works.
The electronic MLA Bibliography 1926- is available from the "Research Databases" page to CSU affiliates. It includes "over 1.5 million citations from more than 4,400 journals and series and 1,000 book publishers." In addition, CSU owns the printed version of the MLA from 1921-1991 found at Z 6519 .M53 Location MOVABLE SHELVES (lower level South); unfortunately twenty volumes (as in books--some of these have more than one "volume" of the MLA) are damaged and not available.
The opening search page of the electronic MLA Bibliography looks like this:
Subject Searching in the MLA
To do effective subject searching you need to know a bit about how MLA assigns terms (see sections below for details). The terms discussed on this page are listed in full citations under General Subject Areas or Subject Terms. Selecting "SU Subjects-All" from the drop down menu on the search screen has MLA search terms in the subject fields.
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After doing a search (in the case below, Henry Fielding and 1700-1799 and English literare all as SU Subjects-All), MLA offers narrower subjects on the left-hand side:
Clicking on More brings up a bubble with additional subjects 
. Select one of interest and the database runs a new search. While the term does not get entered into the search box (as it did in the previous version of the software), it can been seen in the search history, under Narrow by Subject (shown just below to the right); in addition the subject terms on the left may change--and another one may be selected for further specificity.
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Usual practice in referring to eras of writing is by century; for instance, "18th century English novels." Therefore, researchers looking for materials on that topic might think that including "18th century" in their searches would be helpful. Wrong. MLA assigns "1700-1799" to the 18th century. It is important that researchers keep this in mind or they will have unproductive searches.
Example groups of dates actually used by the MLA are: 400-1699; 400-1499; 1500-1599; 1600-1699; 1700-1799; 1800-1899; 1900-1999; and 2000-2099.
Author Subject Searches
Another important thing to learn about MLA is that each author is assigned a country and a century (the one most closely associated with her/him), which can be confusing when an author emigrated from his/her native land and/or lived and wrote in two centuries. For example, Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), born in the Ukraine with a few significant works published in the 19th Century (e.g. Almayer's Folly and Heart of Darkness), is listed under English-literature 1900-1999. All materials written by Conrad are listed under English literature 1900-1999.
Country of Work Searches (National Literatures)--English Language Literature
Use the geographic areas listed below with "literature" to identify works from a specific country or area. For example, search for "Irish literature" to find books written by Irish authors.
- (British and Irish) English; Irish; Manx; Scottish; Welsh; Breton
- (Commonwealth) Australian; Canadian; New Zealand
- (English Caribbean) Barbadian; Belizean; Dominica (W.I.); Grenadian; Guyanese; Jamaican; St. Kitts; St. Lucian; Trinidad and Tobago
- (American (United States of America)) American
Searchable formats include:
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Selectable from the intial search screen 
are: Autobiography, Biography, Drama, Fiction, Letters, Novel, Periodicals, Poetry, Prose, Saga, and Short Story.
Type of Novel Searches
Identified types of writing can be searched for by subject. For example: The Gothic; Gothic conventions; Gothic fiction; Gothic literature; Gothic melodrama; Gothic novel; Gothic romance; Gothicism
You may need to use a term in a variety of ways to be certain that you have made a comprehensive search for materials on that topic.
Subject matter
MLA uses "treatment of" before topics. These are found in the Subject Terms. Examples:
- Treatment of: advertising; food; heroism; pain knight; femininity; anger; black-identity; courage, devotion; reality; male-bonding; classical-myth; discrimination; Cold-War; remembrance; dualism; political-prison; health; automobile; religion; existence; love; veterans; women; girls'-education; criticism; city; African-American-community; gender; workers; format.
- Also, treatment of [name of character] (character), for example,
- treatment of Du Bois, Blanche (character);
- treatment of Heathcliff (character);
- treatment of Fleming, Henry (character);
- These can be searched by typing in the search box: DE "Fleming, Henry (character)" or DE "courage" [DE indicates a descriptor term]; these can be combined as well:
MLA uses "relationship to" before topics. Examples:
- Relationship to: identity; politics; kinship; American-dream; postmodernism; time; imperialism; aestheticism; emancipation-of-women; effeminacy; American-nationalism; English-identity; antidepressant; seaside-resorts
MLA uses "compared to." Examples:
- Compared to: American poetry; English poetry; praise; English-language-modern; architecture; cultural-studies; speakers; Jewish-women; Argentinian-literature; folk-belief-systems; legal-cases; film
- Also, compared to [author], for example,
- compared to Mann, Thomas (1875-1955)
- Role of: judge; sublime; originality; binary-opposition; literacy-studies; reading; dissociation; cultural-studies; culture; language-transfer; output; reader-response; meaning-negotiation; aestheticism; musical setting; tourism
American Literature Searches, Author Group, Geographic Area, or Women
One category of American literature search is by author race/ethnic group. Examples (there are more) are:
- African American Novelists; Italian American novelists; Jewish American novelists; Mexican American novelists; Native American novelists; Spanish American novelists; African American poets; Arab American poets; Italian American poets; Mexican American poets; Native American poets; American writers; African American writers; Appalachian writers; Armenian American writers; Asian American writers; Beat Generation; Chinese American writers; Cuban American writers; German American writers; Greek American writers; Hispanic American writers; Irish American writers; Italian American writers; Jewish American writers; Lost Generation; Mexican American writers; Native American writers; New York Intellectuals; Southern American writers; Spanish American writers; American men; African American men
Another category of searchable American literature is by geographic area. For example:
- Midwestern American novelists; Southern American Novelists; Midwestern American poets
Women authors are also categorized by race/ethic group and geographic area (examples):
- American women critics; African American women critics; American women dramatists; African American women dramatists; Mexican American women dramatists; American women novelists; African American women novelists; Southern American women novelists; White American women novelists; American women poets; African American women poets; Mexican American women poets; Native American women poets; American women writers; African American women writers; Asian American women writers; Caribbean American women writers; Chinese American women writers; Cuban American women writers; German American women writers; Japanese American women writers; Mexican American women writers; Native American women writers; Southern American women writers.
Citations about/Treatment of Ethic/Race Groups, Artists/Writers, Women, and Other Groups
- English women; Victorian women; English writers; Angry Young Men; Bloomsbury Group; English poets; African Americans; American artists; American Canadians; American women; American writers; Asian Americans; Cajuns; Cuban Americans; European Americans; Hispanic Americans;Jewish Americans; Lebanese Americans; Mexican Americans; Native Americans; Puerto Ricans;White Americans; Asian African American women; Chinese American women; Hispanic American women; Italian American women; Mexican American women; The Rich; Yuppies; The Poor
Topical/Theme Searches
Topic searches range as widely as sources written about them range. For example:
- Goodness; Gossip; English society
Technique Searches
There are numerous techniques that are searchable. Examples are:
- Technique; Abstraction; Amplification; Anacoluthon; Analepsis; Antirealism; Apologetics; Argumentation; Burlesque; Camp; Characterization; Chiaroscuro; Contradiction; Contrast; Defamiliarization; Description; Detail; Diction; Diegesis; Digression; Dissonance; Echo; Emphasis; Epistolary technique; Equivocation; Eroticism; Esperpento; Evocation; Figuration; Figurative language; Flashback; Focalization; Foregrounding; Foreshadowing; Framing; Gestus; Hypertextuality; Interlacing; Interpolation; Intertextuality; Inversion; Juxtaposition; Leitmotifs; Localization; Mimesis; Mise en abyme; Montage; Mood; Musicality; Mythification; Narration; Narrative technique; Omission; Parallelism; Perspective; Poetic technique; Point of View; Polyphony; Prolepsis; Realism; Referentiality; Repetition; Ruse; Satire; Setting; Soliloquy; Style; Suspense; Symbolism; Symmetry; Tone; Travesty; Unity; Verfremdung; Verisimilitude; Cinematic technique; Dramatic technique; Structure
Texts
There are terms for close studies of the texts themselves. Examples:
- Text; Textual editing; Textual explication; Textual form; Textual revision; Textuality; Textualization
Publication Year
You can limit sources retrieved by the year the criticism or commentary (not the primary source) was published. Do this under "Publication Date" on the initial search screen (to narrow an existing search, slide the dates on the right-hand side of the screen see example). Use the drop down menu to select the month and type in the year.
See EBSCO on Truncation and Proximity Operators for information about using these search mechanisms in MLA.
See also Using MLA Bibliography to Find Sources on an Author for additional searching strategies.