New+Historicism+and+Cultural+Materialism

Brooke Clark

Lauren Latchford
Jada Lutsky Sara Howell

__Definition-__ New Historicism is a method based on the parallel reading of literature and non literature texts, usually based on the same time period. It refuses to privilege literary texts.

 * In 1980 is when the New Hisoricism had its beginnings.


 * The New Historicism took the text of the time where as cultural materialism can relate to our time.


 * New Historicism critiques the potential situation of its own day


 * New Historicism is associated with political pessimissive


 * New Historicism is anti-establishment with liberal ideas


 * New Historicism and Marxism are similar except New Historicism focuses on higher levels of social hierarchy where as Marxism is more focused on church, institutions, and culture.


 * Traditional historians would ask "what took place at an historical event?" and a new historicist would ask" how was the historical event interpreted?"


 * It places the literary text within the frame of a non literary text.

 Stephen Greenblatt
 * The term 'New Historicism' was coined by the American critic Stephen Greenblatt.


 * There is no weight given to literary texts and non-literary texts, one is just as important as the other in New Historicism.


 * This book //Renaissance Self- Fashioning from More to Shakespeare// (1980) was written by Stephen Greenblatt and was considered the first book using New Historicism as a literary theory.


 * a literary text is something that can be read such as a play, poem, or even a street sign, that gives informative information.


 * A non-literary text is a magazine, journal, newspaper, any information that has current affairs and educative information.


 * Cultural materialism is similar to New Historicism but is more popular in Europe


 * Cultural materialism is associated with political optimism


 * Cultural materialism is more optimistic about the possibility of change


 * The Term culture with cultural materialism means that it is not limited to "high culture" but includes all forms of culture.


 * The four characteristics that define cultural materialism are:
 * 1) Historical contexts
 * 2) theoretical method
 * 3) political commitment, and
 * 4) Textual analysis
 * Jonathan Dollmilore and Allen Sinfeld defined these methods in their book, //Political Shakesphere//


 * ===Sources: ===
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 * ====== https://www.google.com/search?q=new+historicism&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=fpV2UtmfDq_NsQSpooCQBA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=612 ======
 * ====== http://www.docstoc.com/docs/42290239/New-Historicism---PowerPoint ======