New Historicism is a critical approach that emerged in the 1980s, primarily within the field of literary studies, but it has since been applied to a variety of disciplines including history, art history, and cultural studies. It is characterized by its focus on the relationship between literature and the historical context in which it was produced. Unlike traditional historicism, which often treated literary works as reflections of their times, New Historicism posits that literature is not merely a passive mirror of history but an active participant in the cultural and social dynamics of its era.

New Historicism is defined by several key features:


1. Contextualization: It insists on the importance of understanding a text within its historical context. This includes not only the political and social climate but also the cultural and intellectual milieu that shaped the work.


2. Interdisciplinarity: New Historicists often draw on insights from other fields such as sociology, anthropology, and political science to enrich their analysis of literary texts.


3. Power Relations: The approach emphasizes the role of power in shaping both literary works and the historical context. It seeks to uncover how power structures influence the production and reception of texts.


4. Cultural Artifacts: New Historicism views literary texts as cultural artifacts that can be read alongside other cultural products, such as legal documents, paintings, and popular entertainments, to gain a fuller understanding of the era.


5. Subjectivity and Objectivity: It acknowledges the subjectivity of the critic while striving for a nuanced understanding of the object of study. Critics are encouraged to recognize their own biases and how these might affect their interpretation.


6. Resistant Reading: New Historicism often involves a resistant reading of texts, looking for subversive elements or the voices of marginalized groups that may be present within the dominant discourse.

7.
Cultural Poetics: The approach is interested in the ways that culture uses language and symbols to create meaning. It looks at the 'poetics' of culture, how it uses language and other forms of representation to construct a particular worldview.

8.
Canon: New Historicism challenges the traditional literary canon, arguing that it often excludes works by women, people of color, and other marginalized groups. It advocates for a broader and more inclusive canon.

9.
Agency of Texts: It considers texts to have agency, meaning they can influence the culture and society in which they exist, rather than simply reflecting it.

10.
Contingent Meaning: New Historicism posits that the meaning of a text is not fixed but contingent upon its historical context and the interpretations of its readers.

The approach has been both praised for its nuanced and holistic view of literature and criticized for its sometimes overwhelming focus on context at the expense of close reading of the text itself. Nonetheless, it has had a significant impact on literary studies and continues to influence the way scholars approach texts and their historical contexts.

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Definition of New Historicism. : a method of literary criticism that emphasizes the historicity of a text by relating it to the configurations of power, society, or ideology in a given time.read more >>