1987•PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of AmericaRequires access

The New Historicism and Its Discontents: Politicizing Renaissance Drama

Edward A. Pechter

Open publisher page 104 citations

Abstract

This essay, while referring particularly to commentary about Renaissance drama, examines the new historicism more generally as one of the most powerful and interesting forms of criticism on the contemporary scene. How do new-historicist critics characterize the text? What do they mean by history? How do they understand the relation between the two? And finally, are there other, arguably more useful kinds of answers available to us than the ones the new historicists typically provide?

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This essay, while referring particularly to commentary about Renaissance drama, examines the new historicism more generally as one of the most powerful and interesting forms of criticism on the contemporary scene. How do new-historicist critics characterize the text? What do they mean by history? How do they understand the relation between the two? And finally, are there other, arguably more useful kinds of answers available to us than the ones the new historicists typically provide?

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OpenAlex reports 104 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

This essay, while referring particularly to commentary about Renaissance drama, examines the new historicism more generally as one of the most powerful and interesting forms of criticism on the contemporary scene. How do new-historicist critics characterize the text? What do they mean by history? How do they understand the relation between the two? And finally, are there other, arguably more useful kinds of answers available to us than the ones the new historicists typically provide?

Key concepts: Historicism, The Renaissance, New Historicism, Drama, Criticism, Relation (database), Literature, Epistemology

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