Historical Approach
A Checklist of Historical Critical Questions
- When was the work written? When was it published? How was it received by the critics and public and why?
- What does the work’s reception reveal about the standards of taste and value during the time it was published and reviewed?
- What social attitudes and cultural practices related to the action of the word were prevalent during the time the work was written and published?
- What kinds of power relationships does the word describe, reflect, or embody?
- How do the relationships reflected in the literary work manifest themselves in the cultural practices and social institutions prevalent during the time the work was written and published?
- To what extent can we understand the past as it is reflected in the literary work?
- To what extent does the work reflect differences from the ideas and values of its time?