🥽Literary Theory and Criticism Unit 8 – New Historicism & Cultural Materialism
New Historicism and Cultural Materialism emerged in the 1980s as approaches to literary analysis that emphasize historical and cultural context. These theories view texts as products of their time, reflecting and shaping dominant ideologies and power structures.
Key concepts include "thick description," intertextuality, and the "circulation of social energy." Major theorists like Stephen Greenblatt and Raymond Williams developed these approaches, which combine close reading with historical and cultural analysis to understand literature's role in society.
New Historicism emphasizes the historical and cultural context in which a literary work was produced
Cultural Materialism focuses on the material conditions and power structures that shape literary production and interpretation
Texts are seen as products of their time, reflecting and shaping the dominant ideologies and discourses of the period
The concept of "thick description" involves situating a text within its broader cultural, social, and political context
Intertextuality refers to the ways in which texts are shaped by and respond to other texts and discourses
The "circulation of social energy" describes how texts both reflect and influence the power dynamics and cultural values of their time
Hegemony refers to the dominant ideologies and power structures that shape a society and its cultural productions
Includes both coercive power (force) and consensual power (persuasion)
Historical Context and Origins
New Historicism and Cultural Materialism emerged in the 1980s as a response to the perceived limitations of formalist and structuralist approaches to literature
Influenced by the work of Michel Foucault, particularly his ideas about power, knowledge, and discourse
Draws on Marxist theory, particularly the concept of ideology and the relationship between base and superstructure
Developed in the context of the "cultural turn" in the humanities, which emphasized the role of culture in shaping social and political realities
Reflects a growing interest in interdisciplinary approaches to literary studies, incorporating insights from history, anthropology, and cultural studies
Responds to the political and social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, including the civil rights movement, feminism, and the Vietnam War
Challenges the notion of literature as a timeless, universal, and autonomous realm separate from its historical and cultural context
Major Theorists and Their Contributions
Stephen Greenblatt, a key figure in the development of New Historicism, introduced the concept of "cultural poetics" and emphasized the role of anecdotes in revealing the cultural context of a text
Louis Montrose coined the term "New Historicism" and explored the relationship between literature and the "cultural matrix" in which it is produced and consumed
Raymond Williams, a pioneer of Cultural Materialism, analyzed the relationship between culture and society, emphasizing the material and economic factors that shape cultural production
Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield developed the concept of "cultural materialism" as a way of understanding the political and ideological dimensions of literature
Catherine Gallagher explored the relationship between literature and the rise of the novel, emphasizing the ways in which novels both reflected and shaped emerging ideas about gender, class, and individualism
Jerome McGann analyzed the material conditions of literary production, including the role of publishers, editors, and the marketplace in shaping the meaning and reception of texts
Core Principles and Methodologies
New Historicism and Cultural Materialism reject the idea of a stable, universal meaning inherent in a text, instead emphasizing the ways in which meaning is shaped by historical and cultural context
Texts are seen as both products and producers of their cultural moment, both reflecting and shaping the dominant ideologies and power structures of their time
Close reading is combined with historical and cultural analysis to situate texts within their broader context
Anecdotes and marginal details are seen as revealing the cultural assumptions and anxieties of a particular historical moment
Intertextual analysis examines the ways in which texts are shaped by and respond to other texts and discourses
Power relations are a central concern, with a focus on how texts both reflect and reinforce dominant power structures
Includes an analysis of how marginalized groups resist and subvert dominant ideologies
The concept of "negotiation" emphasizes the ways in which texts navigate and respond to the competing discourses and ideologies of their time
Comparison with Other Literary Theories
New Historicism and Cultural Materialism share some similarities with Marxist literary theory, particularly in their emphasis on the relationship between literature and ideology
However, they reject the economic determinism of some strands of Marxism, instead emphasizing the complex interplay between culture and society
In contrast to formalist approaches (New Criticism), which focus on the internal structure and meaning of a text, New Historicism and Cultural Materialism situate texts within their broader historical and cultural context
Unlike poststructuralist theories (deconstruction), which emphasize the instability and indeterminacy of meaning, New Historicism and Cultural Materialism see meaning as shaped by specific historical and cultural conditions
Compared to reader-response theory, which focuses on the role of the reader in constructing meaning, New Historicism and Cultural Materialism emphasize the ways in which texts both shape and are shaped by their cultural context
While sharing some similarities with cultural studies, New Historicism and Cultural Materialism maintain a central focus on literary texts and their relationship to history and culture
Application to Literary Analysis
New Historicist and Cultural Materialist approaches have been applied to a wide range of literary texts and genres, from Renaissance drama to postcolonial literature
In analyzing Shakespeare's plays, for example, New Historicists have examined how the plays reflect and respond to the political, religious, and social tensions of Elizabethan England
Greenblatt's analysis of Henry IV, Part 1 situates the play within the context of Elizabethan anxieties about rebellion and social disorder
In studying the rise of the novel, New Historicists and Cultural Materialists have explored how the genre both reflected and shaped emerging ideas about individualism, gender, and class
Gallagher's work on the industrial novel examines how the genre responded to the social and economic transformations of the 19th century
Postcolonial literary analysis has drawn on New Historicist and Cultural Materialist approaches to examine how texts both reflect and resist colonial ideologies and power structures
Edward Said's concept of Orientalism, for example, analyzes how Western texts have constructed and reinforced stereotypes of the "Orient"
Critiques and Limitations
Some critics argue that New Historicism and Cultural Materialism risk reducing literature to a mere reflection of its historical and cultural context, neglecting the aesthetic and formal qualities of texts
The emphasis on anecdotes and marginal details has been criticized as potentially arbitrary and subjective, lacking a clear methodology for selecting and interpreting evidence
The focus on power relations and ideology has been seen by some as overly deterministic, neglecting the agency and creativity of individual authors and readers
The concept of "negotiation" has been critiqued as potentially downplaying the extent to which texts can challenge and subvert dominant ideologies
Some have argued that New Historicism and Cultural Materialism, in their emphasis on the cultural and historical specificity of texts, risk undermining the possibility of cross-cultural and transhistorical understanding
The focus on Western literature and culture has been seen as potentially Eurocentric, neglecting the cultural productions of non-Western societies
Impact on Literary Studies and Beyond
New Historicism and Cultural Materialism have had a significant impact on literary studies, encouraging a more interdisciplinary and contextualized approach to the study of literature
The emphasis on the relationship between literature and power has influenced the development of postcolonial studies, feminist criticism, and queer theory
The focus on the material conditions of literary production has contributed to the growth of book history and print culture studies
New Historicist and Cultural Materialist approaches have been applied beyond literary studies, informing scholarship in history, anthropology, and cultural studies
The attention to the ways in which texts both reflect and shape cultural values has influenced the study of popular culture, including film, television, and music
The emphasis on the cultural and historical specificity of texts has encouraged a more self-reflexive and situated approach to scholarship, acknowledging the role of the researcher's own cultural and historical context in shaping their interpretations