Menu
New historicism is a movement in literary criticism that began in the 1980s. Its main claim is that the themes and meaning of literature are not universal and cannot be derived from the text alone. Rather, they are the product of the author’s time and cultural situation. These critics don’t, however, believe people can look at history objectively. They believe that people’s interpretation of history is influenced by many factors including socio-political ones. As such, the interpretations of literature are also influenced by the social and political factors of the reader.
– Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 2nd ed., Manchester University Press, 2002.
– Greenblatt, Stephen. “Resonance and Wonder.” Learning to Curse: Essays in Early Modern Literature. Routledge, 1990.
– Guerin, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 1999.
– Kar, Prafulla C. “New Historicism and the Interpretation of the Text.” Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. vol. 2, no.1,1995, pp 75-83. Iias.org/sites/default/files/article/Prafulla%20Kar.pdf
– Krishnaswamy, N., John Varghese, and Sunita Mishra. Contemporary Literary Theory. Macmillan India Limited, 2001.
– Sinfield, Alan. Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain. A & C Black, 2004.
– Vesser, H. Aram, ed. The New Historicism. Routledge, 1989.
– Parvini, Neema. New Historicism. Oxford Bibliographies. Reviewed, 03 JUNE 2019. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0015.xml
Desh Bhagat University,
Off to NH-44, Amloh Road, Mandi Gobindgarh,
District Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab- 147301, India