New+Historical+Criticism-Per+6

New Historical Criticism = =

Overview -
=== The critical lense, ** “ ** New Historicism,” was developed in the 1980’s due the large reaction of people who challenged the concept of an older literary theory called New Criticism, which was created in the 1970’s. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that it really gained interest. A main point of New Historicism, “assumes that every work is a product of the historic moment that created it” (“New Historicism, Cultural Studies 1980s-present”). New Historical criticism is another perspective on how to interpret economic, behaviors of society, social, and political trends of the public over time. Although the point of old historical criticism is to rebuild history exactly like it was, the point of new historical criticism is to reconstruct history through our eyes. In other words, how others believed events in history took place. === === Therefore, to use this theory, it is necessary that a text of detailed historical facts must be relevant about the time period during which the author wrote. For example, a student may read a history textbook written from the account of the life of man in World War II. The student may understand what is going on but may look at it in their own perspective rather than exactly how the author portrayed it. New Historicism also studies what influenced the author on his/her historical literature works. Another point of this theory is that you may read a historic piece and understand what is going on, but you may comprehend it differently than how the author(s) feel and see it. === === Furthermore, there are several different authors that depict New Historical criticism. A great example of this would be William Faulkner’s books. Many of his novels were written during a very difficult historic period of time known as World War II. Because many of the novels were written in that time period, his tone showed feelings of depression, gloominess, and defeat. Another author, Stephen Greenblatt studies the history of Shakespeare and the Renaissance. Greenblatt’s work is a type of cultural creation. Lastly, depending on the time period of a historical literature piece, New Historical Criticism is an excellent way of setting the tone for a book. ===

Critique -
**It does make sense because New Historical Criticism is a new way of viewing history. New Historical Criticism is a valid way of looking at literature because the author was influenced by something in his or her life, whether it was the time period in which it was written, social structure, political beliefs or the books he or she read (Ellis-Christensen). As Tricia Ellis-Christensen said, “All work is biased”. ** **New Historical Criticism is also a valid way of looking at the world because a person’s beliefs and the “social sphere” (Ellis-Christensen) in which a person belongs to can influence him or her and cause him or her to become bias. ** **We feel that New Historical Criticism definitely makes sense. It is a reasonable way of looking at a piece of literature and the world. We feel this way because the "new" in new historical criticism represents the reader imagining what really went on in that time period and not reading history in "black and white." **

Pictures (Examples of New Historical Criticism) -










"New Historicism evaluates how the work is influenced by the time in which it was produced. (Ellis-Christensen)"
=== "It also examines the social sphere in which the author moved, the psychological background of the author, the books and theories that may have influenced the author, and any other factors, which influenced the work of art. All work is biased. (Ellis- Christensen)" ===

Links to Comprehend New Historical Criticism Even Further -

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Works Cited-
Appleman, Deborah. "Critical Theories Defined." File last modified on 19 Feb 2007. //Microsoft Word// file.

Brizee, Allen, and J. Case Tompkins. "New Historicism, Cultural Studies (1980s-present)." //Purdue Online Writing Lab//. N.p., 21 Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/09/>.

Ellis-Christensen, Tricia. "What is New Historicism." //wiseGeek//. N.p., 2011. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-new-historicism.htm>.

Murfin, Ross, and Supryia M. Ray. "Definintion of New Historicism." //virtuaLit: Critical Approaches//. N.p., 1998. Web. 9 Sept. 2011. <http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_newhist.html>.

"Stephen Greenblatt." //Wikipedia//. N.p., 2011. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Greenblatt#New_historicism>


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Project done by- Jess Van Saders, Alexus Arcaro, and Jenna Abyad **