Comparative Study On New Historicism And Annales School

This thesis devides the Annales School into Structuralism Annales School and Post structuralism Annales School in the visual threshold of literature theory, then contrasting the New historcism and Annales School's center defination systematically, attempting to use Annales School's skill in the practice of literary criticism.The first part researchs on the name 'Annales School', introducing the New-historicism and Annales School's development briefly. Comparation with Structuralism, this thesis devides the Annales School into Structuralism Annales School and Post-structuralism Annales School in the visual threshold of literature theory, combining the relationship among Foucault, Levi-Strauss and Annales School.The second part compares the New historcism with Annales School's systematically. The conclusions are drawn as follows:Annales School and New historcism criticize Ranke's style, but their critictzing centers and methods are different. The Annales School's practical measure against Ranke School's political history is paying more attention to the history of economic history, psychological history , micro-history, daily life history and 'Lengthy Period'. The New historcism stresses history's text character and text's history character, single-line history's multiple change and History's ordinary change, objectieve history's subject change and certain history's fortuitous change.After the overturn of affairs, the history of politics and diplomacy, subject, narration and so on, Annales School realized the errors, but the New historcism continued and tried to design a new theory system.Annales School's understanding on history's causality belongs to a depth pattern, but the New historcism is the total rebelion of causality. General hisory is the center definition of Annales School, but micro-history is the negation to it. At the same time, it is a thought which has close relation with New historcism.Annales School's contribution to the change of western history ideas can be describe as 'scientific' and 'non-scientific', New historcism can't be described as 'anti-science', but there are distinct features of aesthetics and rhetoric at least.On the practical level, both concern on some fringe affairs, but there are some obvious differences on the similar levels. Annales School is against to the positivism's history compiling and writing method, and pursuing a trans-subject 'totality history' which has some Post-structuralism's thinking methods to some extent, but it's exploring strength is not on the level of New-historicism which is after the Post-structuralism.The third part attempts to use Annales School's skill in the practice of literary criticism.