You can use the MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) to search for scholarly research on topics other than a specific author or literary work, film, etc. As an expression of culture, literature and film are the subject of cultural analysis, so think of searching for the name of a state or region and a keyword from your larger topic:
For research on the broad topic of this class, you can search the MLAIB for the Genre terms creative nonfiction, memoir, and literary journalism can be searched as a Genre (from the pull-down menu in the Select a field box. Some of the additional genre terms can be found by clicking the Advanced Search link under the search entry boxes.