New Historicism
New Historicism is a subset of cultural studies, which focus on the different perspectives of history, post colonialism, and multiculturalism. New Historicism began to gain attention in the 1970s and 1980s. Because of the nature of the criticism, in that it is constantly developing and changing, it is difficult to define. It does however focus on the many different perspectives that are present when referencing a specific time and place, and, contrary to Historicism, it rejects the complete subjectivity of history. New Historicists assert that the “truth” is rooted in culturally contingent and more complicated than one perspective, that the presence of power is important in identifying different perspectives, and the focus of the goals of the events. New Historicism tries to understand a text in its cultural context or the culture through the text, using different identities and power structures. Mikhail Bakhtin uses the concept of carnival to examine marginalized cultures, and anthropologist Clifford Geertz uses the concept of thick description to focus on the context of certain words and actions, as opposed to thin description, only focusing on an isolated incident.
Los selecciones 1976 por Jorge Sagastume representan muchas perspectivas de la Guerra Sucia en Argentina que empezó en 1976. Por supuesto, cada persona en Argentina y en el extranjero tiene una experiencia diferente en la Guerra Sucia, pero las historias de los personajes en la obra tiene un vislumbre entre las temas más grande. Mientras no representan toda la historia de la Guerra Sucia, algunas cuentas, como “Anasztazia”, “Amor en días de Gran Orden”, y “Crepúsculo sangriento,” dan visión a las experiencias de mujeres. Mujeres y hombres tienen experiencias diferentes en sus vidas normales, y, en un tiempo de conflicto, las diferencias son magnificadas. Las vidas de Celeste, Anasztazia, y la hija del general son ejemplos de esto, con la violencia y abuso que experimentan.