What is the relationship between the practices of New Historicism and New Criticism ?
Correct answer: A. New Historicism was a reaction against New Criticism, which was seen as too narrowly focused on text rather than context.
- A. New Historicism was a reaction against New Criticism, which was seen as too narrowly focused on text rather than context.
- B. Both fields of literary study are American in origin.
- C. New Historicism is simply an early form of Cultural Materialism.
- D. Both fields of study are strictly focused on how readers interpret and invent meanings for literary texts.
Explanation
New Historicism developed partly in reaction to New Criticism's emphasis on the self-contained text. It restored attention to history, culture, power, and context rather than treating textual meaning as wholly autonomous.
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