Эссе на тему: "In the theory of literature, attention should be paid to the general properties of fiction, the analysis of a work of art and the patterns of literary development"

In the theory of literature, attention should be paid to the general properties of fiction, the analysis of a work of art and the patterns of literary development. The whole theory of literature is based on three basic principles of literary criticism: the principle of concrete historicism, the principle of the relationship between form and content, the principle of taking into account the creative individuality of the artist. New Historicism, a form of literary theory that aims to understand intellectual history through literature, and literature through its cultural context follows the field of the 1950s history of ideas and calls itself a form of "cultural poetics".In the next part of my essay, I would like to explain what is the new historicism? and how do I understand this approach? New historicism refers to the analysis of literature, but its distinguishing feature is the interest in historical events occurring in the work.[ REF _Ref90819762 \r \h 1] Harold Aram Wieser, presenting the anthology of essays "New Historicism" (1989), noted some assumptions that constantly appear in "new historicism". In summary, I will note that he believed that every act of exposure, criticism and opposition uses tools that he condemns and risks becoming a victim of the practices that he exposes.The New historicism believes that every work is the result of some historical event. It was he who created this work. Both new historicists and cultural materialists are interested in restoring lost histories and in studying the mechanisms of suppression and subordination. The main difference is that new historicists tend to focus on those at the top of the social hierarchy (i.e., the church, the monarchy, the upper classes), while cultural materialists tend to focus on those at the bottom of the social hierarchy (lower classes, women and other marginalized peoples).[ REF _Ref90819786 \r \h 2] What else is the difference between these seemingly similar theories? It is very interesting that each of the schools practices different types of history. As for the new historians, they rely on the disciplines of political science and anthropology, given their interest in governments, institutions and culture. Cultural materialists tend to rely on economics and sociology. It is important to note that the new historicism values the issues of circulation, negotiation, profit and exchange.[2] Moreover, New Historicism holds that we are hopelessly subjective interpreters of what we observe. The whole essence of the new historicism consists in understanding the facts why the writer describes certain facts, speaks about this or that event.Now I would like to go more specifically to the examples. But first of all, literary works are both what culture produces and what reproduces ideology. Fiction is defined as a lens through which a certain portrait of human experience comes into focus.[ REF _Ref90819795 \r \h 3] For example, I would like to cite a work by Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare c. 1595 or 1596. Briefly speaking about the plot of the work I have chosen, this play consists of five interrelated parts.The action takes place in the realm of fairy tales, by the light of the moon. It is there that the wedding celebration of the Athenian Duke Theseus and the Queen of the Amazons Hippolyta takes place. As we already know, the purpose of the New Historicist Research is to reconstruct the real relationships in which people lived at a certain time.[ REF _Ref90819806 \r \h 5] For example, in one of the most widely read essays of the new historian, he interprets "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as an ideological attempt to comprehend the power of Queen Elizabeth — to comprehend it and safely place it in a framework — while simultaneously maintaining the authority of men in Elizabethan culture. The new historicist shows the ambiguous and contradictory attitude of the Elizabethans to their queen: unwavering respect. It is in this context that "A Midsummer Night's Dream". it is re-read as a fable about the restoration of male rule. The fact that power could indeed be transferred from mother to daughter was hidden from the women of that time by such cultural productions as Shakespeare's play. Before, maybe I didn't pay attention to such things, but now I really see.Indeed, new historicists argue that the best basis for interpreting literature is to put it in a historical context: what contemporary problems, anxieties and difficulties does a particular literary work reflect, destroy or overcome? [ REF _Ref90819813 \r \h 4]In this part of my essay, I would like to speculate and analyze not only what I said above, but also continue to consider the work from the point of view of new historicism. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a "representation" of the culture from which they came. Representation is the reproduction of what a person has seen, heard, felt with possible changes. The term "representations" is misleading. After all, nothing could be further from the new historical truths. In fact, the New Historicism assumes that the artistic function mediates human action. That is, fiction is defined as an objective. And, thus, it can be said that it forms rather than reflects an age-old understanding of human experience and potential.[ REF _Ref90819795 \r \h 3] But all this raises big questions. The main and most important of them is the following: How does the critic know that the ideology embedded in the literary work under discussion really belongs to the past? But really - how can he be sure that ideology is not just his own political preferences, skillfully proven? These questions arise for anyone who reads a lot in the new historical literature, most of which expresses sympathy for the poor. The inconsistency of the New Historicism lies not in its political predilections, but in the logic of its method.In conclusion, I would like to say that the new historicism is indeed a method of literary analysis. It is he who summarizes the social and political phenomena that influenced the author, and subsequently the text written by him as a literary work. The great value of the new historicism lies in the fact that it was he who reminded scientists that they would not be able to understand texts if they did not study the connections between writing and other social practices. This is his advantage. References Dixon, C. 2005, New Historicism, viewed 1 January 2011,https://ru.scribd.com/doc/38791088/New-Historic-Ism-2Felluga, D. 2003, General introduction to New Historicism, viewed 28 April 2006,https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/newhistoricism/modules/introduction.htmlMyers, D. G. 1989, The New Historicism in literary study, viewed 27 April 2006https://web.archive.org/web/20060503233049/http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/myers/historicism.htmlHedges, W. 2000, New Historicism explained, viewed 20 March 2006https://web.archive.org/web/20060506140839/http://www.sou.edu/english/Hedges/Sodashop/RCenter/Theory/Explaind/nhistexp.htmJean E. Howard, "The New Historicism in Renaissance Studies," English Literary Renaissance 16 (1986), p. 15.