Literary Theory and Criticism Unit 8 Review: New Historicism & Cultural Materialism

Key Concepts and Definitions

• 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