LIT 311/499 and WGS 314: Women's Autobiographies: Find Books

Search our discovery service and WorldCat to find autobiographies (i.e., primary sources) and secondary criticism. Leverage the power of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to find precisely what you need.

Genre Headings:

• Autobiographies and Biographies are used as genre headings to identify, respectively, autobiographies and biographies. Your best bet for generating a list of autobiographies (primary).
• Autobiographical is a modifier (e.g., Autobiographical fiction but also Autobiographical memory).

Subject Headings:

• Autobiography is used as the main subject heading to find criticisms (i.e., secondary sources) about autobiographies.
• Biography, diaries, memoirs, and personal memoirs are used as subdivisions to find primary sources (see below). "Biography" here identifies autobiographies (primary) and biographies (secondary).
• Similar in concept is personal narratives, another subdivision that identifies eyewitness accounts of wars and other historical events (e.g., World War, 1939-1945 — Personal narratives). Additional subdivisions include correspondence, interviews, letters, manuscripts, oratory, and speeches. All reveal primary sources.
• Terms not used in LCSH but worth searching for are life story(ies), life narrative(s), life writing (particularly useful), and testimonies.

Examples:

• Autobiographies [primary]
• Autobiography—Women authors [secondary]
• Autobiography—Women authors—Bibliography [tertiary]
• Autobiography—Women authors—History and criticism [secondary]
• Morris, Susanna, 1682-1755 [autobiographer or diarist as subject]
• Quaker Women—United States—Diaries [primary]
• Slave narratives—United States—History and criticism [secondary]
• Slaves’ writings, American—History and criticism [secondary]
• Women slaves—United States—Biography [primary/secondary]
• Women pioneers—West (U.S.)—Biography [primary/secondary]
• Overland journeys to the Pacific [primary]

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