New historicism emphasizes the interaction between what two elements?

New historicism emphasizes the interaction between what two elements?

• A. Historic context of the work and a modern reader's understanding and interpretation
• B. Author's life and the historical period
• C. Economic systems and political power
• D. The literary genre and its conventions

Answer: (A)

New historicism treats a literary work as inseparable from the time that produced it and from the culture that reads it now. The main idea is that meaning comes from a dialogue between the historical context of the work and the modern reader’s own perspective and knowledge. The text carries the ideologies, power relations, and events of its moment, and our contemporary readings bring new questions and interpretations that reveal that history in different lights. So the interaction being emphasized is between the historic context of the work and a modern reader's understanding and interpretation. For example, a Renaissance play can be read not only for its own era’s politics but also for how later readers interpret those politics in light of present concerns about authority or gender. It isn’t primarily about the author’s life, or about economic systems and political power alone, or about genre conventions; it centers on how history and current interpretation shape each other.

New historicism treats a literary work as inseparable from the time that produced it and from the culture that reads it now. The main idea is that meaning comes from a dialogue between the historical context of the work and the modern reader’s own perspective and knowledge. The text carries the ideologies, power relations, and events of its moment, and our contemporary readings bring new questions and interpretations that reveal that history in different lights. So the interaction being emphasized is between the historic context of the work and a modern reader's understanding and interpretation. For example, a Renaissance play can be read not only for its own era’s politics but also for how later readers interpret those politics in light of present concerns about authority or gender. It isn’t primarily about the author’s life, or about economic systems and political power alone, or about genre conventions; it centers on how history and current interpretation shape each other.