Stephen Greenblatt's Poetics Of Culture
In Stephen Greenblatt’s hermeneutical enterprise Poetics of Culture (1987), he proposes that since poetry and history are both forms of poiesis, a creative energy that inspires all imaginative human activities, a literary work must be contextualised in its sociohistorical environment to which it belongs and from which it acquires its meaning. The economic, political and socio-cultural conditions of a specific time frame serve to create the identity of the individuals that constitute a historical environment. The artistic representations of human lives and their interactions in a society capture the identity of an age. Its author is also shaped by the context in which he exists and by which his artistic creation is also fashioned. Hence, artistic creations are inseparable from the human lives and histories involved in their creation and consumption. Greenblatt’s views on textuality are central to the hermeneutical practice he advocates in the Poetics of Culture, which became popular in aesthetic circles as New Historicism. …show more content…
Instead of theorising endlessly on his concepts, his attempts have been to demonstrate how it becomes a handy tool for the critic in the business of analysing texts and, therefore, New Historicism has grown into an accommodative critical discipline rather than ending up as dry doctrine. Greenblatt’s favourite field of study has been literary works of the Renaissance period, particularly Shakespearean plays which he does not approach as inviolable texts that exist in splendid isolation from other forms of expressions during the same period, with “determinate meanings or a stable set of reflections” on historical events (Greenblatt 5-6). He uses words such as ‘shifting’ and ‘jostling’ rather than stable or unchanging when he talks about
Percival Everett's The Appropriation Of Cultures
615 Words | 3 PagesPercival Everett’s short story entitled, “The Appropriation of Cultures” explores themes of irony and absurdity. The irony lies within each and every page. The story begins with Daniel, who is a young and successful black man with a degree from Brown University. He is also a musician and frequently played old tunes with a group of musicians. The story then shifts as white frat boys make suggestions of what the musicians should play, “One night, some white boys from a fraternity yellow forward to the stage at the black man holding the acoustic guitar and began to shout, ‘Play ‘Dixie’ for us!
Trouble With Poetry
629 Words | 3 PagesIn “The Trouble with Poetry” the speaker touches on the same idea of how poetry is so forced, and how it has lost its meaning as an expression and has become more of an addiction among
Critical Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
1187 Words | 5 PagesHistorical criticism strives to cognize a literary work by examining the social, cultural, and intellectual context that essentially includes the artist’s biography and milieu. Historical critics are more concerned with guiding readers through the use of identical connotation rather than analyzing the work’s literary significance. (Brizee and Tompkins). The journey of a historical reading begins with the assessment of how the meaning of a text has altered over time. In many cases, when the historical context of a text is not fully comprehended, the work literature cannot be accurately interpreted.
A Comparison Of Edgar Allan Poe And Much Madness Is Divinest Sense
828 Words | 4 PagesSociety, for centuries, has revered poetry for its beauty, philosophy, and unique capability to reveal truth to the individual. One of the most prominent time periods that display society’s acclaim for poetry was within the Romantic period. Romanticism, according to the New World Encyclopedia, was “an artistic and intellectual movement that ran from the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century. It stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience” (New World Encyclopedia, 2015). Romanticism glorified art, poetry, music, and nature.
Critical Analysis Of Jana Harris's 'Don T Cheapen Yourself'
966 Words | 4 PagesStrong Born in San Francisco, Jana Harris is the author of “Don’t Cheapen Yourself”, a poem empowering woman. This poem was created at a time when women were fighting for equal rights. In the poem the subject, who appears to be a young woman, is confronted by her mother who calls her “sleazy” (line1). This would suggest her mother does not agree with the selections of clothing of her daughter, since she is accustomed to more conservative ways for a woman to dress and present herself in public.
Ambiguity In To Autumn And La Belle Dame Sanns Merci
1170 Words | 5 PagesBesides the author and the reader, there is the ‘I’ of the lyrical hero or of the fictitious storyteller and the ‘you’ or ‘thou’ of the alleged addressee of dramatic monologues, supplications and epistles. Empson said that: „The machinations of ambiguity are among the very roots of poetry”(Surdulescu, Stefanescu, 30). The ambiguous intellectual attitude deconstructs both the heroic commitement to a cause in tragedy and the didactic confinement to a class in comedy; its unstable allegiance permits Keats’s exemplary poet (the „camelion poet”, more of an ideal projection than a description of Keats actual practice) to derive equal delight conceiving a lago or an Imogen. This perplexing situation is achieved through a histrionic strategy of „showing how”, rather than „telling about it” (Stefanescu, 173 ).
Artistic Expression In Wisława Szymborska's Poetry
1356 Words | 6 PagesArtistic expression is the creative manifestation of an artist’s thoughts and feelings. Wisława Szymborska’s poetry states much about what artistic expression is, and how to qualify, and value it, and the importance of breaking from restriction in terms of how critics, whether self-critics or otherwise, evaluate creative expression itself. In The Joy of Writing, she explores the act of writing itself and the power and freedom of artistic expression. Evaluation of an Unwritten Poem is a satire of a critic’s review of a poem. Szymborska demonstrates the fallacies and absurdities associated with judging the quality, cause and meaning of artistic expression, such as poetry.
Madness In Hamlet Analysis
1457 Words | 6 PagesIn the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare reflects the common early modern beliefs and perspectives about madness by using the character development of the protagonist who feigns madness throughout the play. Given Hamlet 's status as a prince, current knowledge of madness during the time period, and the contrast of the different types of madness of other characters in the play, Elizabethan audiences would have found it plausible that Hamlet feigns madness as part of his plot to avenge his father 's death. This new historicist perspective steers the modern reader away from anachronistic psychological interpretations of the play. Hamlet’s status as a prince gives the character certain roles and expectations to fulfill, such as avenging his father’s
Analysis Of Aime Cesaire's A Tempest
1180 Words | 5 Pages“A Tempest” is as a derivative of Shakespeare ’s play “The Tempest” by Aime Cesaire. Cesaire makes a number of alterations in his adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. These alterations have been made in order to outline the change in time eras between the two playwrights’ time of existence and to illustrate the great social change that occurred in these periods, mainly colonialism by the West, the subsequent theme of the quest for freedom as well as the theme of power that resonates throughout the play. This essay aims at exploring the similarities and to draw attention to the alterations made by Cesaire in “A Tempest” and the subsequent effects of these alterations on the audience.
Postmodern Theatre Vs Modern Theatre
2357 Words | 10 Pages1. Introduction Writing about a living phenomenon is a complicated effort especially when realizing it is a dynamic, changeable and heterogeneous structure. This happens when we try to study contemporary practices today, in postmodern era, which is definitely a special expression of specific moment. If Modernism, among others, tried to enforce authority, postmodernism brought anarchy. Many things found today in postmodernism can be traced back, transformed of course, in the main modern flows; dadaism, futurism, surrealism.
Shakespeare's Impact On Theatre
1095 Words | 5 PagesShakespeare was a famous author and poet that wrote extremely well-known texts, such as “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet.” Shakespeare lived during the Renaissance when art and science advanced and he was one of the major contributors to this historical period. “Shakespeare Influences the way we speak now” by Hephzibah Anderson, “William Shakespeare’s Impact on Theatre” by Octane, and “How Outrage Built Over a Shakespearean Depiction of Trump” by Sara Krulwich suggest that Shakespeare had a great influence on many aspects of society, such as the phrases we use, style of theater, and is a figure of inspiration to many people. Shakespeare has contributed to many well-known phrases that are still used to this day, showing his significance in history.
How Did Shakespeare Influence Elizabethan Theatre
1827 Words | 8 PagesIn this essay I will discuss the entire life of William Shakespeare, what it was influenced by in terms of spirituality, ideal and social force behind his work (arts). Further, the challenges he faced both personally and professionally in pursuing social relevance in his plays and the historical significance portrayed in his whole work. Also, I will discuss the development and times of the Elizabethan theatre with the Elizabethan ideal of the core and how Shakespeare was influential in that period. Lastly I will reflect on the elements of Macbeth as a genre to illustrate my research findings.
Why Is Shakespeare Still Relevant Today
738 Words | 3 PagesIn the twenty-first century, the plays of William Shakespeare may at first appear dated and irrelevant: they use archaic language, are set in the age of Kings and Queens, and the Kingdom of England. However, it would be plainly mistaken to construe that Shakespeare’s works do not still remain integral to a twenty-first century society. Shakespeare’s plays gave the words and expressions one uses every day, revolutionized the art of theater as it was known, and forewarned about issues that would unknowingly still apply centuries later. Therefore, Shakespeare has had a profound effect on our lives by enriching our language and culture, as well as providing ideas that would still apply five centuries later, and it would thus behoove us to learn from his works and life.
Compare And Contrast Ben Jonson And Shakespeare
1777 Words | 8 PagesDespite being written a long time ago, readers in this day and age can still relate to the themes and characters. Each reader can find something that appeals to them. Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s works are evidence that there is no one definition of great literature. Even though they didn’t have the same approach or use the same techniques, they are both perfect and their works are jewels that need to be cherished in years to
The Mirror And The Lamp Analysis
1994 Words | 8 PagesIt provides a condensed history of the evolution of critical theories and discriminates between them with the aid of a simple diagram. The essay begins with the definition of modern criticism which is to exhibit “the relation of art to the artist, rather than to external nature, or to the audience, or to the internal requirements of the work itself”. This one and a half century old theory of art competed against innumerable theories such as the mimetic theory, the pragmatic theory, etc., all of which have been thoroughly discussed in the essay. Abrams quotes theorists such as Santayana and D.W. Prall to show the unreal and chaotic nature of these alternate theories.
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