What is Historical Criticism?

Summary

This video delves into the literary criticism approach of historicism, emphasizing the importance of understanding an author's life and the historical context in which a text was written. It highlights the significance of even minor details in reflecting the era's broader themes. The video also touches on postcolonialism and cultural studies, which focus on cultural interactions and representations within literature. Furthermore, it introduces new historicism, which challenges the fixed meanings imposed by history and advocates for a more nuanced dialogue about a text's meaning.

Takeaways

• 📚 Historicism involves studying the author's life and historical context to understand the text's meaning.
• 👤 One key question is how the author's life influenced the text they wrote.
• 🕰️ Another important consideration is how the historical period affected the ideas and themes in the text.
• 🔍 Small details in a text, such as attitudes toward money during the Great Depression, can reflect larger historical ideas.
• ✒️ Christina Rosetti's poetry is an example where her life decisions about religion and love influence her work.
• 🌍 Postcolonialism is a branch of historicism that examines cultural clashes and the impact of one culture dominating another.
• 🎭 Cultural studies focus on how a specific culture's ideas are represented within a text.
• 🧠 New historicism challenges the certainty of historical facts, suggesting that history is shaped by multiple perspectives and not fixed meanings.
• ❓ New historicism asks whether generalizations, like the emotional nature of the Romantic era, are truly representative of all people.
• 🔄 Historicism seeks fixed meaning through history, while new historicism promotes dialogue and multiple voices to understand meaning.

Q & A

What is historicism in literary criticism?

Historicism in literary criticism is a theory that examines the life and times of an author to understand how historical and biographical contexts influence the meaning of a text.

What are the two key questions historicism asks?

Historicism asks: 1) Who was the author, and how did their life influence the text? 2) What was the time period in which the text was written, and how did historical events influence the ideas in the text?

Why is it important to look at specific details in a text when using historicism?

Specific details matter because they can reflect significant ideas from the time period in which the text was written, offering insights into historical and cultural influences.

How does the example of Christina Rosetti relate to historicism?

Christina Rosetti's life choices, such as breaking off engagements for religious reasons, can be seen reflected in her poetry, which often discusses themes of religion and love. Historicism would explore how her personal experiences influenced these themes.

What is postcolonialism, and how does it relate to historicism?

Postcolonialism is a specific type of historicism that focuses on the clash of cultures, especially the aftermath of one culture dominating another. It examines how these dynamics are represented or suppressed in literature.

How does cultural studies differ from postcolonialism?

Cultural studies also examines culture in literature but focuses more on how a specific culture’s ideas are treated and revealed within the text, rather than the broader clash of cultures seen in postcolonialism.

What is new historicism, and how does it challenge traditional historicism?

New historicism challenges the idea that historical facts are fixed and absolute. It argues that history is subjective and shaped by multiple voices, questioning whether we can truly know historical facts with certainty.

How does new historicism view historical generalizations, such as those from the Romantic Era or the Great Depression?

New historicism questions generalizations like 'people in the Romantic Era were driven by emotion' or 'people in the Great Depression were frugal,' arguing that such statements are oversimplifications that don’t account for the diversity of experiences and voices.

What is the significance of the phrase 'history goes to the winners' in the context of new historicism?

The phrase suggests that history is written by those in power, and new historicism emphasizes listening to all voices—big and small—to understand how history can be subjective and multifaceted.

How does historicism help in understanding the meaning of a text?

Historicism helps by analyzing the historical context and the author's life, showing how these external factors influenced the themes, ideas, and characters within the text.