Stephen Greenblatt is an American Literary critic. Greenblatt is one of the founders of New Historicism which is also known as cultural poetics.
While he was teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, Greenblatt helped to found a journal called Representations, in which some of the earlier important New Historicist criticism appeared. However, it was his introduction to The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance (1982) that spurred the growth of New Historicism. In this introduction, Greenblatt differentiated what he called the “New Historicism” from both the New Criticism, which views the text as a self-contained structure, and the earlier historicism which was monological and attempted to discover a unitary political vision.
New Historicism is a literary theory that attempts to understand intellectual history through an engagement between literature and cultural contexts. It tries to establish a connection between literature, history, culture, and social aspects.
According to the theory, Literature or understanding of literature is not divorced from cultural backgrounds. Stephen Greenblatt stated that Literature is not isolated from social and cultural themes.
He also believes that a text is shaped by the external agents around itself. It means that an author’s mindset is shaped by social and cultural responses between authors and engagements with the world. He argued that Shakespeare’s drama is not meant to be read or understood purely as works of fiction. He further argued that such artistic works must create an academic discourse where readers and scholars engage with the politics and the culture in their times.
In Stephen Greenblatt’s introduction to “The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance,” he delves into the intricate relationship between literature, politics, and society during the Elizabethan era. He begins with a vivid anecdote about Queen Elizabeth’s reaction to a performance of Shakespeare’s “Richard II” in the context of the Essex rising, showcasing the political significance attributed to theater at the time.
Greenblatt explores the conflicting views on the play’s interpretation: while modern historical scholarship portrays “Richard II” as a celebration of Tudor order, Queen Elizabeth perceived it as a potential threat to her reign. This dissonance highlights the dynamic nature of interpretation and the role of historical context in shaping meaning.
He contrasts traditional literary history, which seeks to establish a stable interpretation of texts, with the emerging paradigm of the new historicism. Unlike its predecessor, new historicism questions the monological approach to history, acknowledging the multiplicity of perspectives and the fluidity of meaning in literary works.
Drawing on recent criticism, Greenblatt emphasizes the importance of recognizing literature as a site of contention and negotiation, reflecting the contradictions and complexities of society. He argues that understanding genre is essential for unraveling the poetics of culture, as literary forms are intricately intertwined with broader social and political dynamics.
Overall, Greenblatt’s introduction sets the stage for an exploration of the power dynamics inherent in Renaissance literature and the transformative potential of new critical approaches.
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