New+Historical+Criticism-Per+1

__﻿﻿ New Historical Criticism __

﻿New historical criticism: -lense used to study literature through the ideas of different people of the time period that a particular piece was written. - ﻿The message the author wants to convey is portrayed through the actions of the characters and the tone of the book. -The theme is usually one of the most important elements in this lens

 -It makes the critique dive deeper into the background of the author to understand his ideas and beleifs in retrospective with the prevailing view of the time. In doing so, you may for example understand the writings of Abe Lincoln ( an abolitionist) which will contradict the majority view of pro-slavery in the south. - However, it does not always have to be the emotions felt by the majority of the people. For example, in an era where imperialism was supported, the book __Heart of Darkness__  attacked it through its theme and symbolism.

-New Historical Criticism was created in the 1980's and was made popular by Stephen Greenblatt. He wrote many books and articles about New Historicism.

Example: Heart of Darkness: A book written during the age of imperialism 1. As Europeans were unsympathetic to the suffering of the Africans as a whole <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">(during the age of imperialism), the characters in the book were also unsympathetic to their hunger, and threw a single cracker in their direction when they begged.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. In 19th century European society, Africa was thought of as very uncivilized and “dark” because of its unexplored and untamed territories. However, the author feels that Europe could be considered the “Heart of Darkness” because imperialism has corrupted them into being greedy, arrogant people. He portrays this through the main character’s, Marlow, aunt, who calls him an “emissary of light” when he goes to work in Africa for a trading company. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It soon becomes apparent that the company’s accountants, managers, and its best <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ivory trader have been so corrupted by imperialism to be “barbarians.”

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Symbols

-New Historical Criticism is when you tell about a time period based on the morals and themes, not the direct. It is like reading between the lines or reading the subtext.



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Conclusion <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In some forms of literature, this would be a very good way to determine how people were feeling around the time period when this was written. One drawback of this is that sometimes some people would not have written this way. For example, a rich person with a positive outlook on life who might have lived during the great depression might have written a book with a positive attitude or mood which contradicts the general thought during this time period. As stated before, the emotion portrayed in a book does not always have to be the prevailing one of the time. I think New Historicism is an accurate way to understand the different emotions and actions of the society of another time. Sources ___ [|Appleman Theories] @http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical.html http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/new.hist.html-definition