New Historicism Practice Questions

Correct answer: Stephen Greenblatt

Stephen Greenblatt is the central figure of New Historicism. He moved away from formalist readings to explore how Renaissance literature was embedded within the power structures and social practices of its time.

Correct answer: The historicity of the text and the textuality of history

This phrase, associated with Louis Montrose, suggests that literary texts are historical documents and that our knowledge of the past is mediated through surviving texts, making history an interpretive act rather than a fixed objective truth.

Correct answer: It treats history as a web of competing discourses rather than a single factual narrative

Unlike older methods that saw history as a 'background' of facts, New Historicism treats history as a 'foreground' of unstable, contradictory narratives that interact with the literary text on equal terms.

Correct answer: Michel Foucault

Foucault's ideas about 'power/knowledge' and how institutions regulate behavior through discourse are foundational. New Historicists apply his concept of 'epistemes' to show how literature participates in social control.

Correct answer: The anecdote

New Historicists often use a 'thick description' of a minor historical anecdote (like a court record or a travel diary) to reveal the cultural 'energy' and power dynamics of a specific era before connecting it to a major literary work.

Correct answer: Subversion and containment

Greenblatt argued that the state often 'produces' subversion so it can publicly suppress it, thereby strengthening its own authority. This suggests that even seemingly radical literature might actually serve the interests of power.

Correct answer: Clifford Geertz

Clifford Geertz used 'thick description' to explain not just human behavior but its context, such that the behavior becomes meaningful to an outsider. New Historicists use this to read literary texts as part of a dense cultural system.

Correct answer: The way desires, anxieties, and power move between cultural practices and the theatre

Social energy refers to the collective feelings and power dynamics of a society. Greenblatt argues that literature 'borrows' this energy from reality (religion, politics, law) to make the text resonate with the audience.

Correct answer: Cultural Materialists are more overtly political and Marxist in their aims

While both study history, Cultural Materialists (like Jonathan Dollimore) are typically more focused on how texts can be used for contemporary political resistance, whereas New Historicism focuses more on the 'containment' of subversion.

Correct answer: A historical document such as a medical treatise, map, or legal record

New Historicists collapse the hierarchy between 'high literature' and 'low' historical documents. They might analyze a Shakespeare play alongside a colonial map to show how both participate in the same cultural discourse.

Correct answer: Episteme

The episteme is the total set of relations that unite, at a given period, the discursive practices that give rise to epistemological figures and sciences. New Historicists seek to uncover the episteme of the era they study.

Correct answer: A text's meaning is inseparable from its specific time and place of production

New Historicists argue against the 'universal' human truths claimed by Liberal Humanists. They contend that emotions and ideas are socially constructed and vary according to the historical moment.

Correct answer: The History of Sexuality by Foucault

Foucault argued that power is not just something held by a king, but a network that flows through every social interaction. New Historicists look for how this power is negotiated in the dialogue and imagery of a play.

Correct answer: Stephen Greenblatt

In 'Invisible Bullets,' Greenblatt analyzes how the state uses the threat of subversion (represented by characters like Falstaff) to consolidate its own power through 'containment'.

Correct answer: The Renaissance and Early Modern Period

While it can be applied to any period, New Historicism began as a movement within Renaissance studies, focusing on the court of Elizabeth I and the works of Shakespeare and Spenser.

Correct answer: A system of language and practice that shapes our understanding of reality

Discourse is more than just speech; it is a framework of rules and conventions that defines what is 'true' or 'normal' in a culture. Critics analyze how literary texts conform to or disrupt these dominant discourses.

Correct answer: The shaping of one's public identity to fit social and political norms

In 'Renaissance Self-Fashioning,' Greenblatt argues that identity in the 16th century was a deliberate performance shaped by the pressures of the court, religion, and the state, rather than a natural, stable self.

Correct answer: The author is a product of their culture, exchanging its social energy

New Historicists see the author as a 'subject' produced by their historical circumstances. The author is not an isolated creator but a participant in the broader cultural and political conversations of their time.

Correct answer: It can be 'monolithic,' making resistance to power appear impossible

Critics, especially Cultural Materialists, argue that New Historicism’s focus on 'containment' makes the structures of power seem impenetrable, leaving little room for actual social change or agency.

Correct answer: They belong to a single cultural fabric and can be analyzed together

New Historicism is 'anti-elitist' in its methodology. It treats a broadside ballad, a political pamphlet, and a Shakespearean tragedy as equally valuable 'texts' for understanding the spirit of an age.