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The History of New Historicism By MJ Robertson
Still relatively new, the theory was founded in the 1980’s and thrived into the 90’s (Parvini). The majority of new historicism is credited to Shakespearean professor Stephen Greenblatt. In the introduction in his book The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance in 1982, Greenblatt spurred the rapid growth of literary theory, new historicism. Historically, the theory first gained traction in accordance to Shakespeare’s writing. While old historicism placed historical context in the background of a text, Greenblatt put equal weight on historical context and the text being analysed.
- Thomas Wyatt - William Shakespeare - Christopher Marlowe - Philip Sydney
Clifford Geertz Geertz was a cultural anthropologist who proposed looking closer at social behaviour and its effect on historical cultures. When new historicism was first being conceived, it was an idea of analysing power within an anthropological perspective, and started with Geertz’s studies of torture and punishments. “For Clifford Geertz, culture is the medium of semiosis, a set of control mechanisms,such as plans, recipes,rules and instructions, for the governing of behavior and a system of codes regulates social life by governing the production of those ensembles of conventions, practices and artifacts to which the word culture is often loosely applied” (Lyu 1076). Click to learn more about Geertz! Michel Foucault Foucault was a philosopher that proposed that the theory of knowing, epistemology, is non-linear. With his idea in mind, new historicism borrows it to look at history and the knowledge of how it continues to affect present time, and how the branches of historical moments have grown over time. Click to learn more about Foucault! Stephen Greenblatt Greenblatt started out with the idea of new historicism in articles that were part of a literary magazine (Mambrol). Once writing the book that kicked off new historicism, he continues to write with the theory in mind within books like Shakespearean Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England and Marvellous Possessions. Click to learn more about Greenblatt!
MJ Robertson has an Associates in Veterinary Sciences and is currently studying as an English major at Central New Mexico Community College. Upon graduation, they will be transferring to The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. |
Figure 5, Clifford Geertz.
Figure 6, Michel Foucault
Figure 7, Stephen Greenblatt |
