New Historicism – Complete Study Material
New Historicism – Complete Study Material
Introduction
New Historicism is a literary theory that studies literature in relation to the historical, social, political, cultural, and ideological conditions in which it was produced.
It argues that a literary text cannot be completely understood in isolation from its historical context.
New Historicist critics examine the relationship between:
Literature + History + Power + Culture + Ideology
Unlike traditional historicism, which often treats history as a background to literature, New Historicism considers literary texts and historical documents as interconnected forms of cultural discourse.
Simple Definition
New Historicism is a critical approach that interprets literary texts alongside the social, political, cultural, and historical discourses of their period.
1. Origin of New Historicism
New Historicism became influential particularly during the 1980s.
The movement is strongly associated with:
Stephen Greenblatt
Greenblatt played a major role in developing and popularizing New Historicism.
His work focuses especially on:
Renaissance literature
Shakespeare
Culture
Power
Social institutions
Historical discourse
2. Stephen Greenblatt
Stephen Greenblatt is the scholar most closely associated with New Historicism.
Important works include:
Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare (1980)
Shakespearean Negotiations (1988)
Learning to Curse (1990)
Marvelous Possessions (1991)
Exam Point
Stephen Greenblatt → New Historicism
3. Renaissance Self-Fashioning
Greenblatt's ** Renaissance Self-Fashioning ** is one of the foundational works of New Historicism.
It examines how individuals in the Renaissance constructed their identities in relation to:
Society
Religion
Political authority
Cultural expectations
Social institutions
Key Concept
Self-Fashioning
4. Self-Fashioning
Self-fashioning refers to the process through which individuals construct and present their identities according to cultural and social expectations.
Identity is therefore not simply natural or independent.
It is shaped by:
Society + Culture + Power + Institutions
Literary Application
A critic may ask:
How does a character construct identity?
What social rules shape that identity?
What institutions control the character?
Does the character conform or resist?
5. History Is Not Just Background
Traditional approaches may treat history as:
Background → Text
New Historicism emphasizes:
History ↔ Text
Literature participates in the culture that produces it, while historical documents can also be interpreted as forms of discourse.
Therefore, New Historicism does not simply ask:
“What happened historically when this text was written?”
It also asks:
“How does the text participate in the historical discourses and power structures of its time?”
6. Text and Context
New Historicism emphasizes the relationship between:
Text
The literary work.
Context
The surrounding:
Politics
Religion
Economics
Social structures
Cultural beliefs
Legal systems
Institutions
A literary work is therefore studied within a network of historical and cultural materials.
7. Michel Foucault's Influence
New Historicism is strongly influenced by Michel Foucault.
Important Foucauldian concepts include:
Power
Knowledge
Discourse
Institution
Discipline
Social control
Foucault's understanding of history challenged the idea that history is simply a neutral collection of objective facts.
8. Power and Knowledge
Foucault argues that power and knowledge are closely connected.
Institutions produce knowledge, classify people and regulate behaviour.
Examples include:
Government
Schools
Hospitals
Prisons
Churches
Courts
New Historicist critics examine how literature participates in these systems of power and knowledge.
9. Discourse
Discourse is a central concept in New Historicism.
It refers to systems of language, knowledge and practices through which societies understand and regulate particular subjects.
Examples:
Religious discourse
Medical discourse
Legal discourse
Political discourse
Colonial discourse
Sexual discourse
Literary Application
A critic may ask:
What kinds of knowledge and assumptions does a literary text reproduce or challenge?
10. Power Is Everywhere
Following Foucault, New Historicism does not understand power merely as something possessed by kings or governments.
Power operates through everyday institutions and social practices.
It can influence:
Language
Education
Religion
Family
Law
Gender
Literature
Thus, literary texts can become sites where power is negotiated, reproduced, challenged and transformed.
11. Power and Resistance
New Historicism does not see power as completely one-sided.
Where power exists, there can also be:
Resistance
A literary text may simultaneously:
Reinforce dominant ideology
Question authority
Provide space for resistance
Absorb resistance into existing systems
This makes the relationship between literature and power complex.
12. Ideology
Ideology refers to systems of beliefs and values that shape how people understand society.
New Historicist criticism asks:
What beliefs does a text promote?
What social values does it normalize?
Whose interests are served?
What groups are marginalized?
Does the text challenge or reinforce dominant ideology?
13. Subversion and Containment
This is one of the important concepts associated with Greenblatt's New Historicism.
Subversion
The challenging or questioning of established authority.
Containment
The process through which potentially disruptive ideas are controlled or absorbed by the dominant social order.
A literary text may appear rebellious while ultimately reinforcing the system it challenges.
Memory Trick
Subversion = Challenge
Containment = Control
14. New Historicism and Shakespeare
New Historicism has been particularly influential in Shakespeare studies.
Instead of studying Shakespeare's plays only as timeless works of art, New Historicists examine:
Elizabethan politics
Religion
Monarchy
Social hierarchy
Gender
Colonial expansion
Economic structures
Theatre culture
15. Shakespeare and Power
For example, Macbeth can be examined through:
Kingship
Political legitimacy
Violence
Treason
Witchcraft
James I's political context
Ideas of monarchy
The play becomes part of a larger cultural conversation about political power and authority.
16. New Historicist Reading of The Tempest
Shakespeare's The Tempest is frequently examined through New Historicism.
Important issues include:
Colonialism
Power
Language
Authority
Otherness
Slavery
European expansion
Prospero and Caliban
Their relationship can be examined in relation to:
Power + Colonization + Knowledge + Language
Caliban's position can be connected to broader Renaissance debates about the “other” and European encounters with unfamiliar peoples and territories.
17. New Historicism and Renaissance Literature
New Historicism has been especially influential in Renaissance studies.
Critics examine literary texts alongside:
Court records
Religious documents
Political writings
Travel narratives
Legal documents
Diaries
Letters
Popular pamphlets
Economic records
This broadens the concept of what counts as useful historical evidence.
18. Anecdotal Method
Greenblatt is associated with the use of anecdotes in literary and historical analysis.
An anecdote may be a small historical incident, document or event that reveals larger cultural structures.
Instead of beginning with a broad historical theory, the critic may begin with:
Small event → Cultural pattern → Literary interpretation
19. Thick Description
New Historicist criticism often provides detailed attention to the cultural context surrounding a text.
The critic may examine:
Rituals
Customs
Institutions
Social behaviour
Political events
Religious beliefs
Legal practices
The goal is to understand how a text functions within a larger cultural network.
20. Textuality of History
New Historicists question the assumption that history gives us completely objective access to the past.
Historical accounts are themselves:
Written
Selected
Organized
Interpreted
Shaped by language and perspective
Therefore, history is not treated simply as a transparent record of facts.
21. Historicity of Texts
The opposite side of this idea is the historicity of texts.
Literary works are products of specific historical circumstances.
They are influenced by:
Political institutions
Social structures
Cultural beliefs
Economic conditions
Religious ideas
Thus:
Text is historical.
And:
History is represented through texts and discourses.
22. New Historicism vs Old Historicism
| Old / Traditional Historicism | New Historicism |
|---|---|
| History often provides background | History and text are interconnected |
| Literature may be treated as primary | Literary and non-literary texts are studied together |
| History treated as relatively objective | History is understood through discourse |
| Focus on major historical events | Focus on culture, institutions and everyday practices |
| Author may be emphasized | Power and discourse are emphasized |
| More linear historical approach | More complex, relational approach |
23. New Historicism vs Formalism
| New Historicism | Formalism |
|---|---|
| Historical and cultural context | Internal textual structure |
| Power and ideology | Form and technique |
| Social institutions | Literary devices |
| History + literature | Text-centered analysis |
| Greenblatt, Foucault | Russian Formalists |
Key Difference
Formalism asks: “How does the text work?”
New Historicism asks: “How does the text work within its historical culture and systems of power?”
24. New Historicism vs New Criticism
New Criticism
Focuses on:
Close reading
Unity
Paradox
Irony
Ambiguity
Text itself
New Historicism
Focuses on:
History
Culture
Politics
Power
Ideology
Discourse
Memory Trick
New Criticism → Text
New Historicism → Text + History + Power
25. New Historicism vs Marxism
Both approaches examine power and ideology, but they differ in emphasis.
Marxism
Focuses strongly on:
Class
Capitalism
Labour
Economic structures
New Historicism
Examines a wider network of:
Power
Discourse
Institutions
Culture
Politics
Social practices
New Historicism is particularly influenced by Foucault's decentralized understanding of power.
26. New Historicism and Cultural Materialism
These approaches are related but distinct.
New Historicism
Especially associated with:
Stephen Greenblatt + Foucault
It often examines discourse, power and cultural practices.
Cultural Materialism
Especially associated with British literary and cultural criticism and thinkers such as:
Raymond Williams
It places stronger emphasis on:
Class
Material conditions
Ideology
Political struggle
27. Major New Historicist Critics
Stephen Greenblatt
The central figure associated with New Historicism.
Louis Montrose
Important New Historicist critic who helped define the relationship between history and textuality.
Catherine Gallagher
Important scholar of New Historicism and literary history.
Stephen Orgel
Known for work on Renaissance culture and Shakespeare.
Jonathan Goldberg
Important contributor to historicist and cultural approaches to Renaissance literature.
28. Louis Montrose
Montrose is associated with the formulation:
“The historicity of texts and the textuality of history.”
This phrase captures a central New Historicist principle.
It means:
Texts are shaped by history, while our understanding of history is itself mediated through texts.
29. New Historicist Method
A New Historicist critic may follow these steps:
Step 1
Identify the historical period.
Step 2
Study political and social structures.
Step 3
Examine institutions and power relations.
Step 4
Read the literary text alongside non-literary documents.
Step 5
Identify dominant ideologies.
Step 6
Look for resistance and subversion.
Step 7
Examine how resistance is contained.
Step 8
Consider how the text participates in its historical culture.
30. Literary Text as Cultural Product
New Historicism considers literature a cultural product.
A novel, poem or play does not exist separately from society.
It is produced within:
Culture + History + Institutions + Ideology + Power
At the same time, literature can influence the culture that produces it.
31. Literature and Social Institutions
A New Historicist critic may examine how literature interacts with:
Monarchy
Church
Law
Education
Family
Military
Economy
Theatre
Colonial institutions
The literary text can either reinforce or question these institutions.
32. New Historicism and Marginalized Voices
New Historicist criticism can draw attention to groups whose experiences have traditionally received less attention.
These may include:
Women
The poor
Colonized peoples
Religious minorities
Prisoners
Servants
Social outsiders
It asks how dominant historical narratives have represented or silenced such groups.
33. New Historicism and Gender
Gender is often studied as a historical and cultural construction.
A New Historicist reading may ask:
What did masculinity mean in this period?
What roles were assigned to women?
How was sexuality regulated?
Which institutions controlled gender behaviour?
How does literature reproduce or challenge these norms?
34. New Historicism and Colonialism
New Historicism can examine the relationship between:
Literature + Empire + Colonial Power
Texts can reveal attitudes toward:
Foreign cultures
Race
Otherness
Conquest
Trade
Exploration
This provides an important connection between New Historicism and Postcolonial Studies.
35. New Historicism and the Author
New Historicism moves away from treating the author as an isolated genius.
Instead, the author is seen as a person shaped by:
Culture
Language
Institutions
Ideology
Political circumstances
Therefore:
Author ↔ Culture
rather than:
Author → Completely independent creator
36. New Historicism and the Reader
The reader is also historically situated.
A modern reader may interpret a Renaissance text differently from an Elizabethan reader because the two readers possess different:
Cultural assumptions
Historical knowledge
Social values
Political contexts
Meaning is therefore connected to historical conditions.
37. Key Concepts
Historicity
The idea that texts are shaped by their historical circumstances.
Textuality
The idea that history itself is mediated through language and texts.
Discourse
Systems of knowledge and language that shape understanding.
Power
Social forces that regulate behaviour and knowledge.
Ideology
Systems of beliefs and values that structure social understanding.
Self-Fashioning
Construction of identity through cultural and social practices.
Subversion
Challenge to dominant authority.
Containment
Absorption or control of potentially disruptive ideas.
Cultural Poetics
Greenblatt's preferred term for his approach to the study of literature and culture.
38. Cultural Poetics
Stephen Greenblatt has used the term:
Cultural Poetics
to describe his approach.
It emphasizes the interaction between:
Literary Text + Social Practices + Power + Culture
New Historicism is therefore sometimes associated with Cultural Poetics.
Exam Tip
Stephen Greenblatt → Cultural Poetics
39. New Historicism and Cultural Exchange
Greenblatt's work often emphasizes the circulation and exchange of:
Ideas
Symbols
Goods
Power
Cultural practices
Literature participates in this larger cultural circulation.
40. Strengths of New Historicism
Connects literature with history
Examines power and ideology
Broadens the concept of historical evidence
Studies marginalized voices
Challenges the idea of literature as isolated art
Reveals connections between texts and institutions
Provides rich cultural context
Helps explain why texts mattered in their original historical environments
41. Limitations and Criticisms
Can sometimes reduce literature to historical context.
May overemphasize power.
Some critics argue that it gives insufficient attention to aesthetic form.
Historical evidence can itself be selective and difficult to interpret.
It may neglect universal or timeless dimensions of literary works.
Critics influenced by Marxism may argue that New Historicism does not sufficiently emphasize economic class.
Its interpretation of history can sometimes become too dependent on discourse.
42. Important Terms for Exams
New Historicism
Stephen Greenblatt
Cultural Poetics
Historicity of Texts
Textuality of History
Self-Fashioning
Discourse
Power/Knowledge
Ideology
Subversion
Containment
Anecdote
Cultural Context
Renaissance Studies
Michel Foucault
Louis Montrose
43. Important Works
Stephen Greenblatt
** Renaissance Self-Fashioning (1980)**
** Shakespearean Negotiations (1988)**
** Learning to Curse (1990)**
** Marvelous Possessions (1991)**
Michel Foucault
** The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969)**
** Discipline and Punish (1975)**
** The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 (1976)**
44. Important One-Liners
Who is associated with New Historicism? – Stephen Greenblatt
When did New Historicism become influential? – 1980s
What is Greenblatt's approach also called? – Cultural Poetics
Who strongly influenced New Historicism? – Michel Foucault
What is self-fashioning? – Construction of identity through cultural and social practices.
What is historicity of texts? – Texts are shaped by their historical circumstances.
What is textuality of history? – Historical knowledge is mediated through texts and discourse.
What is subversion? – Challenge to established authority.
What is containment? – Control or absorption of potentially disruptive forces.
Which period is especially important to New Historicism? – Renaissance.
45. Frequently Asked NET/SET Questions
Short Questions
Define New Historicism.
Who is the leading figure of New Historicism?
What is Cultural Poetics?
Explain self-fashioning.
What is the textuality of history?
What is the historicity of texts?
Explain subversion and containment.
Discuss Foucault's influence on New Historicism.
What is discourse?
What is the relationship between literature and power?
Essay Questions
Discuss the origins and development of New Historicism.
Examine Stephen Greenblatt's contribution to New Historicism.
Explain the concept of self-fashioning.
Discuss the influence of Michel Foucault on New Historicism.
Explain the relationship between literature and history in New Historicism.
Discuss the concepts of subversion and containment.
Compare New Historicism and New Criticism.
Compare New Historicism and Cultural Materialism.
Discuss New Historicism as a method of reading Shakespeare.
Examine the strengths and limitations of New Historicism.
46. Quick Comparison Chart
| Theory | Main Focus | Major Thinkers |
|---|---|---|
| Formalism | Form and technique | Shklovsky, Jakobson |
| New Criticism | Close reading | I.A. Richards, Cleanth Brooks |
| Structuralism | Structures and signs | Saussure, Lévi-Strauss |
| Deconstruction | Instability of meaning | Derrida |
| Reader-Response | Reader's role | Iser, Fish, Jauss, Rosenblatt |
| Psychoanalytic | Unconscious | Freud, Jung, Lacan |
| Feminist | Gender and patriarchy | Beauvoir, Woolf, Showalter |
| Queer Theory | Gender and sexuality | Butler, Foucault, Sedgwick |
| New Historicism | History, culture and power | Greenblatt, Foucault |
47. Final Memory Trick
Remember:
GREENBLATT = NEW HISTORICISM
Then remember:
Self-Fashioning → Identity
Cultural Poetics → Culture
Foucault → Power
Discourse → Knowledge
Subversion → Challenge
Containment → Control
Historicity of Texts → History shapes texts
Textuality of History → History is mediated through texts
48. Final Revision Formula
NEW HISTORICISM
TEXT
HISTORY
CULTURE
POWER
IDEOLOGY
DISCOURSE
=
NEW HISTORICIST READING
Conclusion
New Historicism changed literary criticism by challenging the idea that literature should be studied as an isolated aesthetic object.
It places literary texts within networks of history, culture, institutions, ideology and power. Influenced strongly by Michel Foucault and associated particularly with Stephen Greenblatt, New Historicism became especially important in the study of Renaissance literature and Shakespeare.
For competitive examinations, remember the central formula:
Stephen Greenblatt → New Historicism → Cultural Poetics → Self-Fashioning
and:
Foucault → Power + Knowledge + Discourse
The key principle is:
Literature does not simply reflect history; it participates in the cultural and power structures through which history is understood.
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