Tertiary sources are excellent starting points! Subject encyclopedias, handbooks and overviews are scholarly, tertiary works written by experts on a variety of topics. These resources give you succinct overviews of your topic, explain scholarly arguments, point out interesting questions, and refer you to especially key sources.
In Collins Library, the print reference collection is located on the first floor, and most of the online reference collection is available in one of the database collections listed below. Use Primo to identify subject encyclopedias in either format; or ask a librarian for recommendations.
The Cambridge Companion to French Literature by 
The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French by 
The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature by 
The Cambridge History of French Literature by 
The Cambridge Introduction to Francophone Literature by 
Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 by 
French Literature: a cultural history by 
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature
Guide to French Literature by 
Historical Dictionary of French Literature by 
A History of Modern French Literature by 
