This document provides an overview of New Historicism as a literary theory and method of criticism. It defines New Historicism as emphasizing the historicity of a text by relating it to the power structures, society, and ideologies of its time period. The document then discusses key aspects of New Historicism, including that it first developed in the 1980s, views literature as part of history, and believes criticism should incorporate diverse discourses like poststructuralism and feminist theory. It also distinguishes New Historicism from older forms of historicism by noting New Historicism sees history as textual and mediated rather than objective fact.

1. Paper :Literary Theory and Criticism
• Name : Chauhan Hetal M.
• Paper no : 7
• Unit : 5, Literary Terms
• Topic : New Historicism
• Roll no : 13
• Email : hetalchauhan137@gmail.com
• Batch : M.A, Sem-2, 2018
• Submitted To : M.K. Bhavnagar University,
Department Of English

2. New Historicism - Defination
• A method of literary
criticism that
emphasizes the
historicity of a text by
relating it to the
configuration of
power, society , or
ideology in given
time.

3. About New Historicism
• New Historicism is a school of literary theory.
• First developed in 1980s and basic idea –
history with literary text.
• New Historicism is a literary theory based on
the idea that literature shoud be studied and
interpreted within the context of both the history
of the auther and the history of the critic.
• New Historicism assumes thet every work is a
product of the historic moment that created it.

4. • New Historicists believe that criticism should
incorporate diverse discourses.
• New Historicism is informed by poststructuralist theory,
as well as feminist, cultural and marxist criticism.
• New historicist critics view literature as part of history
and further more, as an expression of force on history.
• New historicism compares literary analysis to a
dynamic circle:
- The work tells us something about the surrounding
ideology(slavery, rights of women, etc.)
- Study of the ideology tells us something about the
work.

5. New Historicism
• New Historicism focus
on analyzing and
critiquing text through
knowledge of the social,
political, historical and
cultural forces that
interrelate with the text
and with the writer of the
text .
Historicism
• “Historical Criticism looks
for evidence about the
economic, social and
political events going on
at the time a literary was
produced to explain the
content of its literary
works.”(Sandford)

6. Difference Between ……….
Old Historicism
• History background of
literature
• History is objective,
unmediated
• Literature expresses
status quo
New Historicism
• Literature has historical
agency, can influence
reciprocally
• History is story, plural,
mediated
• Literature can subvert
status quo & change
course of history

7. Old Historical
• History is KNOWABLE
and STABLE
- It exist, has a presence
New Historical
• History is TEXTUAL
- History is literature, it is
not fact; it is fiction
- History and literature
are interconnected.
- See history in literature,
but literature also creates
history
- subjective

8. Old Historical
• Literature mirror
historical reality.
- History comes first,
literature second.
• There is such a
thing as an
OBJECTIVE view of
history
New Historical
• Literature is inter-Textual
- All Cultural activities are
potential “text” to be read
- All texts combine to create a
“web of relationships and
ideas”
• KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
- How is knowledge created ?
Who has the authority to
make and impose definitions
of reality on everyone else?

9. New Historicism and Gatsby
• Interpreted as a
condition of class
society in 1920’s
America (social
criticism)
• Interpreted as a
condemnation of
patriarchal control of
society 1920’s
America.(feminist
criticism
• Interpret as one
biased individual’
attempt to interpret
his surroundings, but
it doesn’t even
scratch the surface of
understanding the
1920’s culture
because it:
Before we Now We

10. Sub point of Now We
- Left out perspective of minorities,
- was written by successful and wealthy
white male novelist,
- Was read and interpreted by you,
who also has a lot of biases and never
lived in the 1920’s.

11. The Big Name Of New Historicism
• The “founder of new
Historicism
• Worked with mostly
Shakespeare and
other Renaissance
literature.
Stephen Greenblatt

12. • A cultural historian famous for ideas about
power
• Applied to NH thoughts on state power and
control in relation to discourse; power shapes
how literature is produced, and consumed.

13. Conclusion
• New Historicism
• For example, when studying Shakespeare’s Merchant Of
Venice, one always comes to the question of whether
the play shows Shakespeare to be anti-semitic.
• The new Historicist recognizes that this isn’t a simple
yes-or-no answer that can be teased out by studying the
text.