DET101-New Historicism, Cultural Studies (1980s-present)

Structuralist and post-structuralist theories

The time period in which it was produce and identify it with the cultural andpolitical movements of the time (Michel Fourcault's concept of episteme).

A product of the historic moment that created it.

"...a practice that has developed out of contemporary theory, particularly the structuralist realzation that all human systems are symbolic and subject to the rules of language, and the deconstructive realization that there is no way of positioning oneself as an observer outside the closed circle of textuality".

Tyson explains, is to think about the retelling of history itself: "...questions asked by traditional historians and by new historicists are quite different.

'What happened?' and 'What does the event tell us about history?'

'How has the event been interpreted?' and 'What do the interpretations tell us about the interpreters?'

"...history is a series of events that have a linear, casual relationship: event A caused event B; event B caused event C; and so on"

History objectively, but rather...

But rather that we interpret events as products of our time and culture and that "...we don't have clear access to any but the most basic facts of history..our understanding of what such facts mean...is...strictly a matter of interpretation, not fact"

Morever, New Historicism holds that we are hopelessly subjective interpreters of what we observe.

1. What language/ characters/ events present in the work reflect the current events of the author's day?
2. Are there words in the text that have changed their meaning from the time of the writing?
3. How are such events interpreted and presented?
4. How are events' interpretation and presentation a product of the culture of the author?
and other more...