Name: Gohil Khanjaniba Mahipatsinh.
Class: MA (Part-1) (Semaster-2).
Roll no: 15.
Subject: Cultural studies.
Assignment topic: New Historicism with examples.
Guided by: Dr.Dilip Barad,
Heenaba Jhala.
Dedicated to: The Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University,
Bhavnagar.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CULTURAL STUDIES
Cultural studies is the most difficult point to
define it because in the years of nineties many writers,
critics, anthropologists, etc. It has been tried to define it.
As Patrick Branting says that a tightly coherent, unified
movement with a fixed agenda, but a loosely coherent
group of tendencies, issues and questions.
This studies arises from the year of 1960s,
has full of different discourses they are:
Marxism, Post-structuralism, post-modernism, feminism and
gender studies, anthropology, sociology, race and ethnic
studies, film theory, urban studies, public policies, popular
culture studies and post colonial studies…
Above of all discourses are deeply rooted into
the literature and some major figures are came into an
existence. Jacques Derrida has given his views over
‘deconstructuralism’ and ‘structure, sign and free play’.
Another famous anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss was
much more influenced by structuralism and post
structuralism. Both of these writers has given counter
points to each other because Derrida has broken such
definitions over structuralism and he has been defined
deconstruction in his theories.
Cultural studies approaches have four important
goals theory is:
Ø Cultural studies transcend the confines of a particular
discipline such a literary criticism or history.
Ø Cultural studies are politically engaged.
Ø It denies the separation of high and law or elite and
popular culture.
Ø Cultural studies analyzes that not only the cultural
work, but also the means of production.
Cultural is goes on changing in every one’s
background, culture is related to particular land,
religion, their style, way of living their lives,
language, artifacts, etc. we have also read many
novels but all of these novels has different issues, has
different ways to present it. It is dependable on the writer or novelist that how they represents their culture in their writings.
But now days, we could see the change of reading the books and many people reads realistic novels. It is in much more numbers. Scientific and historical are much more influenced during the modernism and post modernism. Whereas feministic and anti feministic writings are also well known to us because of the tone of the writing style, it is much affected by the issues which were going on or with what writers are connected or we may say that they are much surrounded by those artifacts.
However in literature a new discourse was also established during the years of the early 1980s and our historians says that literary texts are the mirrors of the society and history is related to particular past events that is revealed to the readers respectively and it goes on speaking about past events, rituals, beliefs, etc.
If we talked about this term in general literary way of
thinking then we will start to think in the directions of common way
like we will imagine practices, issues, etc.But now days belief is that
we should refer some events of our region's past. However we find
out many incidents which are leads us to the particular truth that
mere a myth or people's way of thinking in their time and we
inherited by those things knowingly or unknowingly and that is mostly
involved or we may say that it is our past base of the present time.
New Historicism is a kind of universal truth whereas sub-
culture came into power from 1995 and in those era emotions are not
important for the readers of the time according to such surveys and
prooves.Historical movements which are molded and history re-
enters in the places of history. However it shapes literary events that
we called as New Historicism and mostly it changes the view and
reading style of history books especially in the 1980s. History is
represented to us as just a background of a such society. Because
when we came across to particular past of society we have to go
deep in the study of their background or we say that we have to
observe their attributes where they conserves ideas and thoughts.
Example for that when we reads a holy book Mahabharata we came to
know about such heroic ideas but if we minutely observe the
character of Eklavya then we could not find out any description of
this character then we also have to go forward to another book like
T.P.Kailasam's book entitled as " The Purpose". Thus we have to take
another text as a just a co-text or as a reference book only.
In the co-texts all forms of documents flaws with the
texts. Before the realizing of the text things goes on changing,
example for that when speaks the word 'silence' that silence breaks
as well as the society's norms and situation also changes and view of
particular events is also totally changes with the change of ideas and
time.
Any literary text is a mirror of the society and it is
mere reflection of the society its products, its meaning, and its
critical interpretations and evolutions. New Historicists conceive of a
literary text as situated within the totality of the institutions, social
practices, and discourses that constitutes the culture of a particular
time and place with which the literary text interacts as both a
product and producer of cultural energies and codes. Most distinctive
in mode of study is mainly the results of concepts and interpretations
of the events which were happened in the society and has different
perspectives to look at the events with different glasses or we may
ay that with different point of views. The use of language is subject
in the discourse. The subject also has a change in present time
because of the differentiations of the classes in the society like upper
class, middle class and lower class (according to the Marxism and
the subject under the poststructuralist.
Michel Foucault's view that the discourse of an era,
product and propagator of "powers" or social forces. Absolutely
social hierarchies. In the support of this point the truth and the
knowledge considered to be humanly normal as against what is
criminal? in contrasts this point i would like give more light over the
fact that when the events was quoted in the text at that time some
minor facts are totally marginalized or it is not taken in the4 text hen
for the readers the question becomes more important that why that
minor are not presented in the texts or what is the reason of the
hiding of the particular event or fact? Of course sometimes these
events are mostly controversial because of the interactions of the
society and these controversial facts are never released as a most
important part of the society.
Mikhail Bakhtin has given the concept of the
dialogic nature of many literary texts that is in the sense that they
incorporate a number of conflicting voices that represent diverse
social classes and interests. Clifford Greetz has given "thick
descriptions". That means close reading or a close analysis of the
text. Louis Monstroe describes New Historicism as ' a reciprocal
concern with the historicity of the texts and the textuality of the
history'. In short we can say that the text is historical and the history
is textual. Sometimes a text is generates different meanings in the
context or with the reference of particular concepts. Text is on the
other hand it seems that it is present thing as a discourse of the
society has interactions that are considered as a representations and
these reflects with the help of verbs. Sometimes we have to unlearn
to learn or we have to relearn after learn. That is most influential
way of the New Historicism.
Many historicists assign the Formative period of some basic
constructs to the early era of capitalism in the seventeenth century.
Some books stands with different things they are: religious,
philosophical, legal, scientific, etc- thus the text can not considered
as only unique status or not a special privatization of the class. Many
times it happens that the voice of the people is fully suppressed by
the upper class or the urban class to express theorthodox, but also
the subordinated and subversive forces of the era in which the text
was produced. And it is common thing that in the books which were
written in the 1980s has totally banned situation of the female or
women. Children, women, lower class of the civilization has not given
voice to speak or they have not got opportunity to write any more on
the controversial issues. There comes sublternity or marginalization
of the whole class and to know about them we have to go on research
or have to read another book to know that what was happened
actually?
"History is that hurts" by Friedrich Nietzsche. Sometimes
in understanding the text thesis and anti-thesis happens and now
days it is known as a tension in the readers mind or viewer's mind. If
we know another context and concept of the text then we can say
that we could not be fool in any way. Every human has to refer two
fallacies they are personal fallacy and another is historical fallacy.
What is not taken in the text? it becomes most important part of the
research and of course that why it is not taken in the text? it is also
more important thing. Art is type of culture. Sometimes we bounded
or tied by particular style of writing so that we can not get freedom
of expression in our things too. Example for that 'Songs of my self'
and 'Lives of Grass' - are now days known as classics of America.
When somebody writes a book he or she connects the dots. Whereas
Julian says that 'Our memory is constructed by us'.
"What we want to vanish it appears to us"
- By Fredrich Jameson.
Nathiel Hawthorne gives the idea of means of production
where text is a kind of production only and cultural milieu becomes a
raw material which is exploited or used by the producers. Sobriety
and Somber becomes most important part of this and it is known as
introverts’ personality and it never shows the thing directly.
CONCLUSION
In the conclusion we can say that whenever we come across
the text we have go forward as well as backward according to the
historical events of past. In another sense we have to prefer pastness
of the past.
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