For almost twenty years, new historicism has been a highly controversial
and influential force in literary and cultural studies. In Practicing
the New Historicism, two of its most distinguished practitioners
reflect on its surprisingly disparate sources and far-reaching effects.
In lucid and jargon-free prose, Catherine Gallagher and Stephen
Greenblatt focus on five central aspects of new historicism: recurrent
use of anecdotes, preoccupation with the nature of representations,
fascination with the history of the body, sharp focus on neglected
details, and skeptical analysis of ideology. Arguing that new
historicism has always been more a passionately engaged practice of
questioning and analysis than an abstract theory, Gallagher and
Greenblatt demonstrate this practice in a series of characteristically
dazzling readings of works ranging from paintings by Joos van Gent and
Paolo Uccello to Hamlet and Great Expectations.
By juxtaposing analyses of Renaissance and nineteenth-century topics,
the authors uncover a number of unexpected contrasts and connections
between the two periods. Are aspects of the dispute over the Roman
Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist detectable in British political
economists' hostility to the potato? How does Pip's isolation in Great
Expectations shed light on Hamlet's doubt?
Offering not only an insider's view of new historicism, but also a
lively dialogue between a Renaissance scholar and a Victorianist,
Practicing the New Historicism is an illuminating and unpredictable
performance by two of America's most respected literary scholars.
Gallagher and Greenblatt offer a brilliant introduction to new
historicism. In their hands, difficult ideas become coherent and
accessible.--Choice
A tour de force of new literary criticism. . . . Gallagher and
Greenblatt's virtuoso readings of paintings, potatoes (yes, spuds),
religious ritual, and novels--all 'texts'--as well as essays on
criticism and the significance of anecdotes, are likely to take their
place as model examples of the qualities of the new critical school that
they lead. . . . A zesty work for those already initiated into the
incestuous world of contemporary literary criticism-and for those who
might like to see what all the fuss is about.--Kirkus Reviews, starred
review
