Reconstructing Historicism is a literary theory that interprets literature through the historical context of both the author and the critic. It was introduced by Stephen Greenblatt in 1980 to study literature within the context of non-literary texts from the same time period. The theory emphasizes understanding power structures of the society surrounding a text in order to interpret it. New Historicism is related to cultural studies and emphasizes that individual experience is culturally specific rather than universal.

1. Reconstructing Historicism
Paper No: 2 (Literary Theory)
Enrollment No: 2069112220170004
Course: M.Phil
Submitted to: Department of English
MKBU
Submitted by: Dipti Vaghela

2. What is Reconstructing Historicism?
• It is a literary theory based on the idea that
literature should be studied and interpreted
within the context of both the history of the
author and the history of the critic.
• It is new inside to look history through new
type of theory or angel.

3. • This term introduced by Stephen Greenblatt in
1980. Afterwards it goes on spreading during
the same decade.
• He wrote in his book, context is replaced by
co-text and non-literary text from the same
time period.
• It means we have to observed that time
through non-literary texts also.

4. It is new inside as compare to old way
of looking literary texts
Generally in old period, we were
looking just esthetics value of the works like,
-themes
-characters
-plot
-moral, etc.
But, now a days we are looking
through many other glasses of various
theories. So, that we call new historicism.

5. Michel Foucault
• His theory of collective cultural knowledge,
documents in order to understand that
particular time.
• Its aims at interpreting a literary text as an
expression of or reaction to the power-
structures of the surrounding society.
• For example ‘The Purpose’ by T.P. Kailasam.
• A tempest and The tempest.

6. Deals with these many words
• Circulation
• Context
• Hegemony
• Ideology
• History
• Power

7. Examples of power structure
• Every government and society talk about poor
or marginalized people. In literature also
people like Bakha in Untouchable, Gangu in
Two leaves and a Bud, Munoo in Coolie,
Velutha in The God of small things and many
other always suffer.

8. Relationship to other Movements
• It is related to Cultural studies, which is a
broader movement in the humanities and
social science.
• It emphasizes that individual experience is
culturally specific, rather than universal.
• So, after all these both are inter related.

9. Camille Pagalia
• The New historicism coming out of Berkeley.
• New historicism is “a refuse of English majors
without critical talent or broad learning in
history or political science, lack of historical
sense”.

10. Conclusion
• Thus, New historicism is nothing but the word
of the past replaced the world of the past.
• Or the aim is not to represent the past as it
really was, but to present a new reality by re-
situating it.
• Thus, after all we can’t conclude anything that
which is truth about history because it is only
spoken by survivors.

11. Work Cited
Waugh, Patricia. "Reconstructing Historicism."
Literary theory and criticism. n.d. 386-403.

12. Thanks for listening