LibGuides: Modern Languages and Cultures Subject Guide: French

Key databases

Academic sources

Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window
This database features hundreds of titles covering art, archaeology, anthropology, classical studies, history, philosophy, music, literature, theatre, modern languages and cultural studies.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full text archive of back issues of journals and e-books in all subject areas.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Index to scholarly literature across world history from the 15th century to present day.This authoritative database provides indexing of more than 2,300 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Subject index to scholarly publications in the fields of modern languages, literatures, linguistics, drama, and folklore literature. Also covers ethnomusicology.
Persee This link opens in a new window
Digital publication of French Scientific journals in the field of humanities.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Full text versions of scholarly journals and books from many leading University presses and Scholarly Societies, covering the humanities and social sciences. Full text access is available for material subscribed to by UoE. Table of contents access is freely available for all non subscribed material.

Xanthos Journal
Peer-reviewed academic journal publishing quality writing in the fields of comparative literature, philosophy and literature, literary theory and critique, classical reception, linguistics, and translation.
Supported by the University of Exeter.

Primary sources

Actes royaux français, 1256-1794 (French Royal Acts, 1256-1794) This link opens in a new window
French-language pamphlets covering the second half of the 13th century to the end of the 18th century. The documents in this collection deal with the financial and political administration of France, covering topics such as taxation, trade, fiscal affairs, criminal justice, and military administration, as well as other aspects of French life.
Dreyfus Affair in the Making of Modern France (L'Affaire Dreyfus: son influence dans la cration de la France moderne) This link opens in a new window
Documents relating to the 'Dreyfus affair', the conviction for treason of a French Jewish artillery officer in 1894, which became the most prominent political scandal of the time, divided France and revealed the virulent anti-Semitism rife in Europe. The collection includes writings by key figures and lesser known authors, pamphlets, newspaper clippings and drawings. The documents are mainly in French but also in English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Swedish.
Ethnologue This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive data source on all of the recognized languages in use today. The collection provides detailed profiles for every language and country on earth, as well as maps, statistical data, language identification, typology, classification and status as well as population data, language and dialect usage and development.
Europeana This link opens in a new window
Artworks, artefacts, books, videos and sounds from across Europe's galleries, museums, archives and libraries. Useful for researching the cultural heritage of Europe.
Frantext This link opens in a new window
Database of French texts covering the 16th to 20th centuries produced by the Institut National de la Langue Franaise. Use it to access L'encyclopdie de Diderot et d'Alembert and other French literature.
Gallica - The BnF Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). This vast digital library collection includes more than 70,000 volumes of digitised texts, 80,000 still images, and 30 hours of sound recordings.
Litterature audio.com This link opens in a new window Freely available French audiobooks, supporting language acquisition skills.
Mercure de France, 1672-1810 This link opens in a new window
Political and literary periodical first published under the title Le Mercure Galant to chronicle the activities of prominent individuals in metropolitan Paris, the French provinces, and abroad, while also publishing novels and stories. French language publication.
Patriotes aux Armes! (Patriots to Arms!): The Underground Resistance in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy, 1939-1945 This link opens in a new window
Newspapers and periodicals, broadsides, leaflets, books and pamphlets and other ephemera produced by or relating to the underground resistance in Belgium, France, Italy, and The Netherlands during the Second World War. French language content mainly as well as some European language content. Digitised page scans and OCR text. Date coverage: 1939-1945
ProQuest One Literature - Incorporating Literature Online This link opens in a new window
Collection of 20th Century English Poetry, 20th Century Drama, 20th Century American Poetry literature, literary criticism, and reference works.
Tout Voltaire This link opens in a new window
Fully searchable database of Voltaire’s writings.
Voices from Wartime France, 1939-1945: Clandestine Resistance and Vichy Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Drawn from the British Library and including perspectives from both the Vichy government and the resistance movement, this collection covers the French press that reached Britain during the Occupation of 1940-44. French, German and English language content. Digitised full page scans and OCR text. Date coverage: 1939-1945

Old books

Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics This link opens in a new window
Encyclopaedia of all matters related to language and linguistics.
Grand Corpus des Dictionnaires This link opens in a new window
Online collection of 24 significant dictionaries on the French language.
Larousse Dictionaries Online This link opens in a new window
Free online bilingual dictionaries, including English to French, German, Spanish and Italian.
Le Petit Robert This link opens in a new window
Online access to the French dictionary Le petit Robert.
Use as a standard dictionary for French or for research into the etymology of the language.
Oxford Language Dictionaries Online This link opens in a new window
Fully searchable and regularly updated online access to Oxford bilingual dictionaries.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Online dictionaries, reference books and encyclopedia covering general reference, language and quotations and subject topics across, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences.

Newspaper databases (Current and archive collections)

Individual newspapers

Les Echos
The Global Gallica collection goes back to 1928. The Proquest collection contains mainly full text coverage dating from 2010 to the present.
Le Figaro
Available via Nexis. See tab on using Nexis. Text only. Coverage from 1990s onwards.
Le Monde online
Digitised full text coverage from one of the leading French national newspapers. Content spans from 2001 to the present day.

Le Monde Archive This link opens in a new window
Archive of the French daily national newspaper Le Monde, covering leading issues and events, like World War II and the Fifth Republic, to French, European and international politics, society and business. French language. Digitised scans of individual articles and full newspaper pages. Date coverage: 1944-2000

Le Parisien
Full text online archive with content from 31 Dec 2001 to 11 Aug 2020.
Liberation
Available via Nexis. See tab on using Nexis. Text only. Coverage from 2017 onwards.

Newspapers collections - search across multiple newspaper titles at once

Gallica - Daily newspaper archives
An archive of key French newspapers published on French territory (including former colonies), from the end of the 18th century until the first years after the Second World War.

Caribbean Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Over 140 searchable historical newspapers from 22 Caribbean islands. Offers insight into nearly two centuries of colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, New World slavery and more. English, Spanish, French and Danish language titles are available. Digitised page scans. Date coverage: 1718-1876
Europeana Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Selected European newspapers from 20 countries. Explore the headlines, articles, advertisements, and opinion pieces from European newspapers. Content is in multiple European languages, and includes text, image, video and sound. Date coverage: 1618 - 1980s.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
A wide range of Modern Language newspapers can be accessed via Factiva.

Click on the Using Factiva tab in the Key Databases section to find out how to search Factiva for French language news.

Latin American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Searchable 19th and 20th century newspapers from Latin American countries in Central and South America. Newspapers contain content in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. Digitised page scans. Date coverage: 1800-1922
Newspapers of the French Revolution of 1848 (Journaux de la Revolution de 1848) This link opens in a new window
Newspaper and periodical titles published in France from the 1848 revolution to the establishment of the Second Empire in 1852. The collection includes national daily and weekly newspapers, as well as women’s periodicals, literary, musical, theatre and opera reviews, medical and trade titles, regional papers and newsletters. Digitised page scans and OCR text. Date coverage: 1848-1852
Nexis This link opens in a new window
A wide range of Modern Language newspapers can be accessed via Nexis UK.

Click on the Using Nexis tab to find out how to find French language newspapers.

Nexis This link opens in a new window
A wide range of Modern Language newspapers can be accessed via Nexis UK.

To search for news results in the French language:

Click on News
In the By Language section, select French
Enter your keywords
Click on the Add option to add them to your search
Click on the Search icon

To find Nexis news articles from a particular newspaper:

In the Nexis homepage, start typing in the name of the newspaper e.g. el pais
A list of potential publications will appear.
Click on the newspaper title you want

The newspaper title will appear as a filter
Your search will now be restricted to results published in this newspaper

You can now enter your search terms to find the newspaper articles you need
You can save this as a favourite filter by clicking on the star

Factiva This link opens in a new window
Global news and business information service, includes full text access to major world newspapers and business titles.

If you are looking for French language news, choose the Search option and change the language from English to French.

Screenshot from Factiva database

You can also refine your search to just show results relating to France or specific regions in France by clicking on the Region option and choosing France or one or the French regions from the list. And then clicking on the Blue triangle to add to your search.

French language learning websites

Anki
This is flashcard-based site, which you may find especially useful for learning conjugations. Like Memrise, it uses spaced repetition to familiarize you with the elements you wish to learn.
Chegg Prep Flashcards
A free website that allows you to create your own flashcards or choose from over 500 million existing flashcards to test your language skills and knowledge.
Review your flashcards on the app or from any device.
Francais Interactif
French Basic Course (Revised)
The French Basic Course is designed to enable you to reach conversational proficiency. You learn how to control the French sound system by listening to the tapes and repeating each phrase.
La chanson en cours de FLE
A great website for developing your grammar, listening and cultural knowledge all in one - learn and revise grammar by listening to French songs!
MemRise French Courses
Watch and learn real conversational language from native speakers. Get a personalised learning experience that gives you just the right level of challenge to keep you motivated.
ThoughtCo. - Learning & Teaching French
Teachers and students can use these comprehensive French language guides to improve reading, writing, and comprehension skills for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Litterature audio.com This link opens in a new window
Freely available French audiobooks, supporting language acquisition skills.

Search the library collections

Library Search

Newspaper websites

La Croix
Daily general-interest Roman Catholic newspaper.
Archive available via Nexis UK.
La Parisien
News in the region of Paris
Le Figaro
Daily newspaper
Archive available via Nexis
Le Monde
Daily national newspaper
Les Echos
Daily financial newspaper.
Archive available via Nexis UK.
Vox Europ (French language)
European newspaper available in 10 languages

Nexis This link opens in a new window
News from regional, national and international news titles

Liberation
Paris daily newspaper

Video & Audio

Litterature audio.com This link opens in a new window
Freely available French audiobooks, supporting language acquisition skills.

Learning French: A Rendezvous with French-Speaking Cultures
A 30 episode series on learning the French language

Open access e-books

Open Edition Books
OpenEdition Books is a platform for books in the humanities and social sciences. More than half of them are open access.

Modern Languages and Cultures Subject Guide: French

French Language and Literature resources