Cultural Studies

                  Topic: NEW HISTORICISM

                       Name: Patel kavita

                            Roll No. – 11

                            Semester: II

                           Batch: 2011- 12

                                        Submitted to:

                                Dept. of English,

                             Bhavnagar University,

                                Bhavnagar.

                 WHAT IS NEW HISTORICISM?

Definition:

A method based on the parallel reading of literary and non-literary texts, usually of the same time period. It refuses to privilege literary text.

            New Historicism is a theory applied to literature that suggests literature must be studied and interpreted within the context of both the history of the author and the history of the critic. The theory arose in the 1980s, and with Stephen Greenblatt as its main proponent, became quite popular in the 1990s. Unlike previous historical criticism which limited itself to simply demonstrating how a work was reflective of its time, New Historicism evaluates how the work is influenced by the time in which it was produced. It also examines the social sphere in which the author moved the psychological background of the author, the books and theories that may have influenced the author, and any other factors which influenced the work of art. All work is biased.

             New historicism is no longer a matter of literature maintaining the foreground and history the background; instead it is a matter of literature and history occupying the same area and given the same weight.

          New Historicism acknowledges that any criticism of a work is necessarily tinged with the critic’s beliefs, social structure, and so on. Most New Historicists may begin a critical reading of a novel by explaining themselves, their backgrounds, and their prejudices. Both the work and the reader are corrupted by everything that has influenced them. New Historicism thus represents a significant change from previous critical theories like New Criticism, because its main focus is to look at things outside of the work, instead of reading the text as a thing apart from the author.

           There is a relationship between Marxism and New Historicism, it can be said that the New Historicist often looks for ways in which populations are marginalized through a literary work. For example, a Jane Austen novel is a novel confined to a very limited sphere of society, namely the landed gentry. While the New Historicist may praise the novel, he or she will also duly note that the servant class is completely marginalized in Austen’s work. Austen asserts the pre-eminence of the landed gentry above any other class of society, and is quite critical of those who marry “beneath” their social status.

Differences between old and new historicism:

Old: hierarchical, with literature being the “jewel,” and history the background.

New: Parallel readings, no more hierarchy.

Old: A historical movement: creates a historical framework in which to place the text

New: a historicist movement. Interested in history as represented and recorded in written documents—history as text.

“The word of the past replaces the world of the past.”

 “The aim is not to represent the past as it really was, but to present a new reality by re- situating it.”

Advantages:

* Written in a far more accessible way than post-structuralist theory.

* It presents its data and draws its conclusions in a less dense way

*Material is often fascinating and distinctive.

*New territory.

* Political edge is always sharp, avoids problems of straight Marxist criticism.

Barry gives an example of Montrose’s essay on Fantasies, reinforces the idea that literature plays off reality and reality plays off literature.

             New Historicism focuses on the way literature expresses-and sometimes disguises-power relations at work in the social context in which the literature was produced, often this involves making connections between a literary work and other kinds of texts. Literature is often shown to “negotiate” conflicting power interests. New historicism has made its biggest mark on literary studies of the Renaissances and Romantic periods and has revised motions of literature as privileged, apolitical writing. Much new historicism focuses on the marginalization of subjects such as those identified as witches, the insane, heretics, vagabonds, and political prisoners.

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