M. K. Bhav. Uni. Smt. S. B.
Gardi Department of English
Assignment sub: Implied culture vs. historical fact examples of new
historicism with reference to his coy mistress.
Year: 2014 Roll no: 7
Sem: 2 Unit: 3
Paper: 8 – Cultural Studies
Name: Drashti V. Dave
Implied culture vs. Historical fact and examples of New historicism
with reference ‘To his Coy Mistress’
First there are minor
difference between historical fact and new historicism, historical fact is fact
about past when new historicism is deals with history and it is against
traditional historicism and formalism. Implied culture is somehow related with
culture. Marvell’s to his coy mistress suggests a rejection of existing
conventional beliefs and power structures in 17th century in England.
Poem illuminates some of the tension between self and society that emerge.
In the poem Marvell
indicate ambivalent historical moment, new historicism is to distinguished if
from the somewhat dreary and encyclopedic, historical work. Implied culture is
reflects implied reader and implied author that concept are interwoven, implied
reader simultaneously an interpretation of the history.
A historical Fact is a Fact about the
past. It answer the very basic question, “What happened?” yet beyond merely
listing the events in chronological order,
Historical try to discover why events happened, what circumstances contributed
to their cause, how they were interpreted etc…
In
an effort to get at what really happened, historians compare stories from a
wide variety of sources, searching for common elements that wrrobrate a
plausible account.
Accounts are comparing with archeological findings. Neither history nor
archeology is an exact science, but technique and technology improvements over
the years have enable them both to make stronger and cases for their accounts
of the past.
Yet historical facts are subject to frequent
disagreement. Much disagreement is due to the past Fact that accurate history
is difficult to obtain, for a variety of reasons. Much information regarding the
past has been lost. Many cultures have a rich oral history, but lack written
documents. Oral account or, “story telling” Suffer from an inherent loss
of information.
Historical Fact does play a central role
in other kinds of conflicts, for example: - long – running international
conflicts over territory.
The historical rhetoric become a
cyclical part of the escalating conflict – each side holds its own biases;
those biases affect the way each side interprets the past; these biased
interpretations are repeated and circulated with fact.
In such a conflict it becomes increasingly
difficult to uncover the authentic history are due to the continual cycle of
interpretation and propaganda. In this way, historical “Fact” can add
significantly to a conflict’s intractability. Here one beautiful sentence
related with history and facts;
I believe that imagination is
Stronger than knowledge-
Than myths is more potent
Than history,
I believe that dream are more
Powerful than facts-
That hopes always triumphs
Over experience-
That laughter is the only cure
For grief.
And I believe that love is
Stronger than death
-
Robert
Fulghum.
Implied Culture:-
Implied means to express or indicate by
a hint or suggest. Originof this word. Imply word come from old French empire,
from Latin, implicate to involve.
Implied consent is consent which is not
expressly granted by a person. Culture should be seen in a broad sense, as in
anthropological studies. Culture is not only understood at the advanced
intellectual development of making as reflected in the arts, but it refers to
all society conditioned aspects of human life. Language is also interrelated
with culture.
Simple meaning of culture: is the ideas,
customer and social behaviour of a particular people or society.
‘To his coy Mistress’:-
Andrew Marvell’s “To his coy Mistress”
tell the reader’s good deal about the speaker of the poem, Much of which is
already clear from earlier comments in this volume, using traditional
approaches.
Andrew Marvell’s To His coy Mistress in
this he write an elaborate poem that not only speaks to his coy mistress but
also to the reader.
Mistress encompassing many literary technique
including tone, imagery, alliteration, metaphor, irony, enjambment and similes.
Marvell’s “To His coy Mistress” also suggests a rejection of existing
conventional beliefs and power structures in seventeenth-illuminates some of
the tensions between self and society that emerge in the poem. Generally,
Marvell uses time symbolic for death as his archenemy in the poem. Marvell uses
a dramatic sense of imagery and exaggeration in order to really his message to
the reader.
“Had we but world enough and time this
coyness, lady, were no crime we would sit down and think which way to walk and
pass our long love’s day; thou by the Indian Gange’s side shouldest rubies
find; I by the tide……
To his coy mistress by Andrew Marvell
this poem in the classical tradition of a Latin love elegy, in which the
speaker praises his mistress or lover through the motif of crape diem. The poem
also reflects the tradition of triple- leveled soul; Biblical echoes a
“platonic- Christian corporal economy,” and the convention of the blazon.
The first stanza, says broody shows
“itself- insistence, exaggerated literariness”. In the second stanza broadly
sees not only the conventional carpe diem theme from Horace but also echoes
from Ovid. Broadly posits the implied reader – as distinct from the fictive
lady- who would be able to summon up a certain number of earlier or
contemporaneous examples of this kind of love poem and models which Marvell may
variously have been evoking, imitating, distorting, subverting or transcending.
What is Implied reader: In a simple word when you read a book you are
the actual reader you are part of a book and all you get together to discuss
your own thoughts and reflections to a book.
On the other hand you get a bunch of
literary theorists together to talk about a book, they are not discussing their
own thoughts and hoe they really liked that one scene. They are talking about
how the reader is reacting to the book or what response a certain text is
electing from the reader in this case is a hypothetical person made up to
represent hoe literary theorists think
someone should or would respond to the material this is implied reader.
Theory of reader response a hypothetical
‘role’ or ‘model’ of someone assumed by the author to share the knowledge
necessary in order to fully understand that act or text as distinct from any
actual readers.
In the poem poet compare historical fact
and culture poem is spoken by a male lover to his convince her to sleep with
him. Marvell wrote this poem in the classical tradition of a Latin love, elegy
in which the speaker praises his mistress or lover through the motif of crape
diem, or seize the day.
Marvell praises the lady’s beauty by
complimenting her individual features using a device called an erotic blazon,
which also evokes the influence technique of 15th and 16th
century patriarchal love poetry.
In other words like Marvell, the speaker
is a highly elucated person, one who associated images moves lightly over
details and allusions that reflects who he is, and he expects his reader or
reader to respond in a kind of harmonic vibration. He thinks in terms of
precious stones of exotic and distant places, of a milieu where eating,
drinking, and making seem to be an achievable way of life.
The implied reader is embodied in the
way in which text structures response in the form of a network of schemata
patterns points of view and indeterminacies that requires and constrain
interpretation. I this poem poet talking about coy lady and in that sense
speaker known from his own words, and justified in speculating that his coy
lady is like the implied reader. Poet compare coy lady with implied reader he
uses it in parody. He seems to assume that she understands the parodic nature
of his comments for talking her in on the jests he appeals to her intellect
comparison of to his coy mistress is poet’s idea and it might appear to be the
culture and the era of the speaker his lady- and his implied culture with
reader.
In to his coy mistress we know of the speaker
from his own words, we are justified in speculating that his coy lady is like
the implied reader, equally well educated and therefore knowledgeable of the
conventions he uses in parody. I that sense Marvell’s poem is truly represent
implied reader and historical fact.
With
reference to historical fact one more important thing is also apply here that
is New Historicism.
New Historicism: New historicism is a literary theory based on
the idea that literature should be studied and interpreted within the context
of both history of the author and the history of the critic. It is based on
parallel reading of literary and non-literary texts of the same historical
period. The basic concept of new historicism is ‘inter- textuality’.
Historical fact is new when historicism
is history itself is a form of social oppression, told in a series of raptures
with previous ages; it is more accurately described as discontinuous riven by “Fault
lines” that must be integrated into succeeding, culture by the epitomes
of power and Knowledge.
New historicism frequently borrows
terminology from the marketplace. In marketplace: negotiation, exchange and
circulation of ideas are described. From Foucault perspective new historicists
developed the idea of broad “totalizing” function of culture observable in its
literary texts, which foacalt called episteme.
Here one best example related with new
historicism is, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. In his novel he gave that
name to Flying Island in the third voyage it is Laputa. One main thing is the
science fiction aspect of that island is shown here. There are many question
arise in that time but there may be answer and as well new historicism is the
right approach to answer this type of question. So in that sense new historicism
is necessary. There are many writers gave their views about new historicism
that are;
Michael Warner phrases new historicism’s
motto as
“The text is historical, and
history is textual”
Frederic Jameson insisted “Always
historicize.” As a return to historical Scholarship, new historicism
concerns itself with extra literary matters-letters, diaries, films, paintings,
medical treatises-looking to reveal opposing historical tensions in a text.
New historicists seek “Surprising
Coincidences.” New historians see such cross-cultural phenomena as texts in
themselves when one question arise about Laputa island now how can new
historicism helps us answer the question raised.
In that answer Flying Island and female anatomy.
Gynecology power in Gulliver’s Travels. Susan Bruce offers a reading of book
iii that makes some new historicist sense out of Swift’s use of Laputa. Bruce
examines a four volume commentary on Gulliver’s Travels by one coralline di
Marco.
Di Marco’s observation gets to the
episode in book iv, A voyage to the Houyhnhnms, in which Gulliver captures
rabbits for food. At that point he Versimilluate that thing.
So new historicism is a historicism that
deals with history imaginatively and subversively. In Gulliver’s Travels we can
say about that it was quite interesting to read the book, how each different
journey he went on the people he meant depicted different group of people in
history, as well as Swift’s comments on those group of people.
Examples of New historicism:
A new historicist looks literature in a
wider historical context. For example, studying Shakespeare’s Merchant of
Venice, one always comes to the question of whether the play shows
Shakespeare to be anti-Semitic. The new historicist recognizes that this is not
a simple yes or no answer that can be tested out by studying the text. This
work must be judged in the context in which it was written; it is focus on a
text from it point of view of the cultural moment. New historicism and history
and fact are related to each other. It is developed in 1980s through the work
of Stephen Greenbelt which gained prominence and influence in 1990s. There are
many books and arties which are based on theory of new historicism. One is
Historicism by Paul Hamilton. Cultural Historicism by Albert H. Tricomi. Many
new historicism have a knowledge a profound indebtedness to the writings of
Michel Foucault, French philosopher historian
According to Foucault, has a single Cause; rather, each event is tide into a
vast web of economic, social, and political factors. Like Karl Marx, Foucault shows
history in terms of power. Through this poem (To his coy mistress) Marvell
portrays his subject as a dangerous subject and in doing so evokes the discord
of the political moment. Poem its Systematic rejection of authority. This
“marginalized” groups. C.S Lewis, writing new historicism had become an
accepted school of literary criticism; Elements of new historicism provide many
other postmodern ideas, like queer theory and gender studies. So historical
fact does not give ‘universal truth’ but rather gives ‘half truth’ or part of
truth.
