Stephen J. Greenblatt

Stephen J. Greenblatt is considered a founder of New Historicism. What the New Historicism wants to know is where things come from and what they mean. It looks at the history behind the literature to get a better understanding as to why it was/is of significance.

New Historisist do not accept inevitability. There is nothing that is already determined. What we do does have an impact on what will be and what is in the present was brought about by what happened in the past. But there can be limits on an individuals intervention.

We care about what is happening or going to happen in our time, in the the present. When we read something written before our time, we will still project the problems and concerns that we have in the present on that work of the distant past. Authors will set a story in the past or future, but will address problems and concerns of the present.

In the video above, Stephen Greenblatt discusses the importance of recirculation of text and it's impact on a new generation that discovered it and it's long term effects.