In the mid-twentieth century, the New Criticism movement dominated literary studies, advocating for a method of "close reading" that treated the literary text as a self-contained aesthetic object, wholly divorced from its author's biography or historical context. In the 1980s, however, proponents of New Historicism fundamentally challenged this orthodoxy. For the New Historicists, a literary work is inextricably embedded in the material and political conditions of its time. They argued that "text" and "context" are mutually constitutive; a poem does not merely passively reflect historical power dynamics but actively participates in shaping them. Consequently, to isolate a novel from its economic or social milieu is to strip it of its primary mechanism of meaning. In response, traditionalist scholars often criticize New Historicists for reducing literature to a mere political artifact, countering that if a poem is nothing more than a historical document, its enduring aesthetic power across vastly different eras remains inexplicable.
Based on the passage, the traditionalist scholars mentioned would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements regarding literary works?
- A literary work possesses inherent qualities that allow its artistic value to resonate with audiences beyond the specific historical conditions of its creation.Answer
- BA literary work is inextricably embedded in the material and political conditions of its time, which serve as its primary mechanism of meaning.
- CA literary work's meaning is entirely derived from its internal structure, making any consideration of historical context completely irrelevant to its interpretation.
- DA literary work must be analyzed primarily as a historical document in order to fully appreciate its enduring political influence on later generations.
- EA literary work's aesthetic power is primarily determined by the author's biographical intentions rather than the broader economic milieu.