The Theory of New Historicism

Write an article on the theory of new historicism Paper must be at least 1000 words. Please, no plagiarized work! Anita’s definition of New Historicism suggests the theory looks at the way in which history can be objective (history becomes subjective when certain narratives dominate), and the way that history consists of various “truths” that are tied to our narratives of history.” (New Historicism in Hearts of Darkness).We can apply New Historicism on the way Conrad brings out the people living in Congo at the time. Two distinct ways come up. One of these is the 19th-century mentality that the colonialists’ task was to bring civilization to their subjects. In the case of Congo, we refer to the Belgians (Okoth 90). The character Marlow, in his narration, depicts the natives as backward. Conrad brings out Character Marlow, to some extent, to imply colonialism brought some light in the otherwise dark world of the blacks. Marlow’s narration figuratively expresses this, as Conrad writes: “And presently he says very slowly—“I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day…A light came out of this river since—you say, knights? Yes. but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday.” (Conrad 10).He holds on stereotypes of barbarism, a total misrepresentation. By extension, though arguably, we can deduce that the author (Conrad) had biases based on race and a matching colonial mentality, given the colonial times he lived in. it can also be argued that he had no option but to follow in this path because fellow whites had similar notions of the native people. The second way New Historicism can look at it gives Conrad a clean bill on colonial biases. If he depicts his views on colonialism in Marlow’s narration, then he is “skeptical to colonialism” (New Historicism in Hearts of Darkness). The narration (by Marlow) brings out mixed feelings.