Research Guides: Latin American Studies: Getting Started

Reference Books

Reference books are helpful starting places if you want:

To browse for research ideas.
Help with focusing your topic.
General information about a topic, person, place, or an event.
More resources that provide bibliographies – which will lead to additional books and articles to look at.

Selected Reference Books

This brief listing of materials is meant to highlight the reference resources available in the various areas of Latin American Studies. It is not meant to be exhaustive. For similar materials, browse the shelves in the Reference Room around these books, or search the library catalog.

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture by Barbara A. Tenenbaum (Editor); Georgette M. Dorn (Editor)
Call Number: F1406.E53 1996
ISBN: 0684192535
Pub Date: 1996
A comprehensive encyclopedia with brief articles written by experts on thousands of people, places, events, and concepts in Latin American history, politics, and culture. Each article includes a reference for further reading. In spite of its age, still one of the most comprehensive English-language reference sources on Latin America.
Literary Cultures of Latin America: A Comparative History (3 vols) by Mario J. Valdés and Djelal Kadir, editors
Call Number: REF PQ7081.A1 L525 2004
Pub Date: 2004
This 3-volume work presents 205 essays from scholars on various topics dealing with the cultures of Latin American literature.
V.1 - Configurations of Literary Culture
V.2 - Institutional Modes & Cultural Modalities
V.3 - Latin American Literary Culture
Cambridge History of Latin America (11 vols)
Call Number: Available online via Cambridge Histories Online
Pub Date: 1984-2008
Leslie Bethell's 11-volume set presents a chronological treatment of Latin America, the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, and Haiti.
Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003
Call Number: Available online via Credo Reference
Pub Date: 2004
Contains over 1200 brief articles with lists of reference on Latin American and Caribbean writers and literary movements of the 20th century.
Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature
Call Number: Available online via Credo Reference
Pub Date: 2000
Much briefer than Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003, but the few articles that it contains are often longer.
The Companion to Latin American Studies
Call Number: Available online via Credo Reference
Pub Date: 2003
Brief essays with further reading on broad topics in Latin American history, literature and culture.
Pop Culture Latin America! Media, Arts, and Lifestyle
Call Number: Available online via Credo Reference
Pub Date: 2005
Includes brief essays with further reading lists on broad topics in Latin American popular culture.
Encyclopedia of Latin American Theater
Call Number: REF PQ7082.D7 E63 2003
Pub Date: 2003
This reference work is divided by country and presents a survey of theater for the given area. Chicano and Nuyerican theater is included.
Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting their Reproductive Lives: Latin America and the Caribbean by Center for Reproductive Law and Policy
Call Number: REF KG136.W64 W662 2001
Pub Date: 2001
This short book outlines policies affecting within countries of Latin America.
A Reference Guide to Latin American History by James D. Henderson, Helen Delpar, Maurice P. Brungardt
Call Number: REF F1410.H463 2000
Pub Date: 2000
The first section of this brief work presents a chronological timeline of events, with a short description of each. The second section presents a chronology of themes, providing an overview of the development of a topic. Includes biographies of about 300 Latin Americans.
The Oxford encyclopedia of Mesoamerican cultures by edited by Davíd Carrasco
Call Number: Available online via Oxford Reference Online
Pub Date: 2006
"...the first comprehensive reference source to chronicle Pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern Mesoamerica, defined as the lands stretching from Mexico to the southern tip of Central America. [...] Encompassing the great civilizations of the pre-Columbian era (including the Olmec, Aztec, and Maya peoples) up through the colonial and postcolonial periods, the Encyclopedia covers art, archaeology, religious studies, anthropology, history, and historiography of the region in fully cross-referenced, signed articles by the leading scholars in the discipline."

Online Reference Resources

Wikipedia isn't the only place to get quick background on a topic! Check out these reliable online reference collections offered through the library:

SAGE Reference - contains close to 70 reference books in the social sciences

Credo Reference - contains over 500 reference books in multiple disciplines

For more online reference sources, see the library's listing of general online reference materials and explore reference materials by subject (navigate to your subject to see specific reference resources).