"New historicism, a form of literary theory which aims to understand intellectual history through literature and literature through its cultural context..."
A critical approach that examines literature in the broader social and cultural context of the time period in which it was written and received.
Historiography: This is the study of how history is written and constructed, and is important in understanding how cultural and historical contexts shape literary texts.
Power and ideology: New historicism emphasizes the ways in which power structures, including social, economic, and political systems, influence literature and other cultural artifacts. An examination of the ideologies contained within these structures is critical to understanding texts produced during different historical periods.
Literature and society: New historicism aims to show how literary works reflect the social, economic, and cultural realities of the time in which they were produced.
Textual analysis: Through detailed analysis of texts, New historicists seek to uncover the underlying assumptions and beliefs that influence literary works.
Cultural studies: This interdisciplinary field explores the relationship between cultural artifacts, such as literature, and the overall social, political, and economic context in which they are produced and consumed.
Discourse analysis: This approach seeks to uncover the implicit rules and conventions that shape the way people talk and write about particular topics, and New historicists use this tool to understand the language and discourse of historical periods.
Marxism: New historicism draws heavily from Marxist theories to examine the dynamics of class conflict and economic inequality within literary texts and their cultural context.
Postcolonialism: This theoretical framework explores the ways in which colonized people have been marginalized and oppressed, and New historicists often examine how colonialism and imperialism are reflected in literature.
Feminism: This perspective highlights the role of gender in shaping social, economic, and political power structures, and New historicists often examine how gender is reflected in literary works.
Psychoanalysis: This approach focuses on human psychology and the unconscious, seeking to uncover the impact of subconscious motivations on literary texts and their cultural context. New historicists use this method to analyze the psychology of power and cultural production.
"...follows the 1950s field of history of ideas."
"... refers to itself as a form of cultural poetics."
"It first developed in the 1980s..."
"primarily through the work of the critic Stephen Greenblatt..."
"... and gained widespread influence in the 1990s."
"Greenblatt coined the term new historicism when he 'collected a bunch of essays and then, out of a kind of desperation to get the introduction done, he wrote that the essays represented something called a 'new historicism'.'"
"...aims to understand intellectual history through literature..."
"...aims to understand intellectual history through literature..."
"...follows the 1950s field of history of ideas."
"... refers to itself as a form of cultural poetics."
"primarily through the work of the critic Stephen Greenblatt..."
"...and gained widespread influence in the 1990s."
"Greenblatt coined the term new historicism when he 'collected a bunch of essays and then, out of a kind of desperation to get the introduction done, he wrote that the essays represented something called a 'new historicism'.'"
"...aims to understand intellectual history through literature..."
"...aims to understand intellectual history through literature and literature through its cultural context..."
"It first developed in the 1980s..."
"primarily through the work of the critic Stephen Greenblatt..."
"... and gained widespread influence in the 1990s."
"Greenblatt coined the term new historicism when he 'collected a bunch of essays and then, out of a kind of desperation to get the introduction done, he wrote that the essays represented something called a 'new historicism'.'"