Old Historicism New Historicism; Cultural Poetics

History as written is an accurate view of what is really occurred.

History is subjective: one of many discourses. History is shaped by the people who lived it.

History serves as a background to literature The interrelatedness of all human activities Historical textual background is secondarily important, because the text mirrors the history of its time.

Tries to address Foucault’s tireless questioning of the nature of literature, history, culture, and society.

By applying the historical context to the texts the critic believes that he or she can formulate a more accurate interpretation of texts than if s/he did not know such historical context.

Viewing a text as culture in action, blurring the distinction between an artistic production and any other kind of social production or event.

As all of society is intricately interwoven, so are critics and texts, both to each other and in the culture. Since all critics are influenced by the culture in which they live, New Historicists believe that they cannot escape public and private cultural influences. Socio-historical elements exhibited in the text. A complex interrelationship of a variety of discourses: the various ways-artistic, social, political, and so on-that people think and talk about their world. Texts are really social documents that reflect but also, and more importantly, respond to their historical situation.

Historical periods evidences a single, political worldview

To unlock textual meaning a Cultural Poetic critic investigates three areas of concerns: the life of the author, the social rules and dictates found within a text, and a reflection of a work’s historical situation as evidenced in the text.

Developed by Elham Shayegh