New historicism

New Historicism is a literary and cultural theory that emerged in the 1980s, particularly in the United States. It is a critical approach that seeks to understand literary and cultural texts within their historical and cultural contexts, rather than isolating them from their time and place.

The term "New Historicism" was coined by Stephen Greenblatt, a literary critic and scholar, in his 1982 book "Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare." Greenblatt argued that literary texts should be seen as part of a larger cultural and historical landscape, and that they can only be fully understood by considering the social, political, and economic contexts in which they were written.

New Historicism is characterized by several key features:

  1. Contextualism: New Historicists believe that literary and cultural texts can only be understood by considering the historical and cultural context in which they were written.
  2. Interdisciplinarity: New Historicism draws on a range of disciplines, including history, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies, to understand literary and cultural texts.
  3. Focus on power relations: New Historicists are interested in the ways in which power operates in society, and how literary and cultural texts reflect and shape these power relations.
  4. Attention to the material: New Historicists emphasize the importance of material culture, including objects, artifacts, and architecture, in understanding literary and cultural texts.
  5. Rejection of grand narratives: New Historicists reject the idea of grand narratives or overarching theories that attempt to explain all of history. Instead, they focus on specific historical and cultural contexts.

Some of the key concepts associated with New Historicism include:

  1. Cultural poetics: The study of the ways in which cultural and literary texts reflect and shape cultural values and norms.
  2. Historical agency: The idea that individuals and groups have the power to shape their own history, rather than being passive victims of historical forces.
  3. Cultural appropriation: The process by which cultural and literary texts borrow from and transform other cultures and traditions.
  4. The material turn: The shift in focus from abstract ideas and texts to the material world and the ways in which it shapes our understanding of culture and history.

New Historicism has had a significant impact on literary and cultural studies, and has influenced a wide range of fields, including history, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies. It has also been influential in shaping the way we think about culture, power, and identity.

Some of the key critics and scholars associated with New Historicism include:

  1. Stephen Greenblatt
  2. Louis Montrose
  3. Hayden White
  4. Natalie Zemon Davis
  5. Peter Stallybrass

Some of the key texts associated with New Historicism include:

  1. Stephen Greenblatt, "Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare" (1982)
  2. Louis Montrose, "The Purpose of Playing: Shakespeare and the Cultural Politics of the Elizabethan Theatre" (1996)
  3. Hayden White, "Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe" (1973)
  4. Natalie Zemon Davis, "The Return of Martin Guerre" (1983)
  5. Peter Stallybrass, "The Politics of the Closet: The Case of Shakespeare's Sonnets" (1994)