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Renaissance
/ Early Modern Studies by Leah S. Marcus
Early Modern Studies is just a new name
given to Renaissance Studies. But this
shift from one term to another is not
merely the shift in naming, it bears
the difference in the study because
Renaissance deals with rebirth of classical
age suggesting eliticism and cultural
myopia-giving excess importance to high
class along with celebration of beauty,
while early modern studies deals with
the modern age that comes along with
Renaissance in the light of New Historicism
and Cultural Studies.
The term Renaissance itself gives the
impression of eliticism by giving excess
importance to the high class of the
Elizabethan Age. So Renaissance is a
single disciplinary approach. On the
other hand, early modern studies are
more liberal by focusing on proletariats
of that time. So, early modern studies
are an interdisciplinary approach that
indicates view point from the margin.
In the essay, Marcus suggests that both
the terms Renaissance and early modern
studies are not solidly fixed in meaning;
both of them are shifty not only in
case of meaning, this shift can be found
in case of the precise time period.
However, the term Renaissance is applied
to European cultural phenomena that
developed as early as 12 th century.
And the term early modern studies are
applied to the phenomena developed as
recently as the last quarter of the
18 th century.
The new and supplementary nomenclature
early modern is far more than a mere
relabeling. This terminological shift
is itself a tool to encounter with the
anthological values and this make scholars
to remap the field. This terminological
shift corresponds to the shift in perceiving
the period. Early modern carries a distinct
agenda for historians, who have adopted
the name quite confusing as a sign of
dissatisfaction from what they perceive
Renaissance as the eliticism and cultural
myopia. As mentioned by Marcus the word
Renaissance was replaced by the word
early modern studies in the 20 th century,
after Second World War, when there was
a rapid loss of moral values indicating
their weakening influences of elite
groups. Particularly after Second World
War, many universities were opened in
public sectors due to which even lower
class people could get the education.
Hence the academic field become inclusive
for all and thus, started early modern
studies. Early modern studies basically
include interdisciplinary approach which
indicates the view point from margin
as well. For instance, in the Elizabethan
age, Queen Elizabeth herself was ruling
the country. At that time, there were
few women writers. However these interdisciplinary
attempts to include even those lost
women writers in literary course.
DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN RENAISSANCEAND EARLY MODERN
1)The
term Renaissance itself gives the impression
of eliticism and cultural myopia; gives
excess importance to high class only
during Elizabethan age, all cultural
activities of that time were sponsored
by elite groups which led to two main
things:
i.
Elite and their values were worshipped.
ii.
Low class people and their culture were
down graded.
In
the other sense the idea of the Renaissance
is retrospective in the sense that it
seeks the affiliation with older Renaissance.
It has deeper concern with high and
elite culture. Renaissance is turning
back towards the date of its beginnings,
origin and past. It is in favor of earlier
chronological beginnings. Where
as
When we use the term early modern studies
we are particularly breaking all the
official connections with Renaissance.
We thus, tend to become more liberal,
we don’t ignore the focus of proletariats
of that time period. The term early
modern is very progressive in the sense
that it searches the way to proceed
forward and established the parameter
to join itself with modern framework.
It welcomes all cultural currents and
values, the lower as well as egalitarian
culture.
2)
As the time framework is concerned.
Renaissance as a movement had been started
during the twelfth century and continued
till sixteenth century in Europe. It
did not germinate any embryos of modernism
and post modernism rather we can compare
its elements with closure and stability.Where
as
An early modern
ends with the first half of the 18 th
century, which is a hundred years earlier
than the literary modernism. It is little
bit successive to germinate modernist
and post modernist tendency as the elemental
features of the period can be compared
with alienation, disjunction, an emphasis
on textual instability and indeterminacy
as well as an interest in inertextuality
which are the common themes developed
after modernism.
3)Though
the term Renaissance is said to be optimistic
upbeat ( with high spirit) but many
more historians are suspicious at its
nature as it values the optimism at
too great extent by neglecting other
cultural current and from of cultural
productions either totally or partially.
Renaissance appreciates hierarchical
sechema, high culture is given almost
worshipful attention where as lower
cultures are perceived by their humanists
as “lack of culture” “lumpish
chaos” “the marry headed
monster of the pit” such emphasis
proves its regular capitalization.Where
as
Early moderns
use quantities methods and local resources
to get at the common lives of the people
as their source of economic activities,
commercial practices, cultural trends
etc. Renaissance because of its interest
in past, created a sense of greater
cultural distance where as early modern
has to fulfill the cultural gap by blurring
the hierarchy between high and low culture.
The interest towards “egalitarianism”
and cultural inclusiveness made early
modern never capitalized. If Renaissance
scholars put a dividing line between
cultures, early modern scholars erased
this line. If Renaissance scholars erected
a cultural hierarchy, scholars of early
modern studies demolished this hierarchy
of culture. Read
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