So my group is discussing New Historicism and we took a piece from Elizabeth Bishop called "Twelve O'Clock News." The poem discusses the Vietnam War and we thought it would be appropriate because in our presentation, we are discussing World War 2. Bishop wrote the poem from her perspective of what it was like living in a third world country with constant chaos and war around you. She talks about how since there is not a lot of advanced technology there, the Vietnam people did not know the magnitude of destruction that was taking place in their country. They did not know who to trust or when the next attack would come.
A New Historist deals with the idea that there are many interpretations of events in history and that there is not true representation of it. In the poem, Bishop states after a bicyclist opens fire on a jet and they retaliate with a whole bombload of napalm, "...anyone with a normal sense of fair play cannot help pulling for the bicyclist, but the sense of fair play, supposed to be Anglo-Saxon, has atrophied in the Americans here from lack of exercise. We can use this piece to demonstrate how we know how mostly the American half of the war occurred, but we do not necessarily know the Vietnam half and their side of the war. Bishop's poem touches base on how they felt when she talked about not knowing what was going on in their country and the bicyclist and we can use this in our presentation to demonstrate how there is no definite version on anything because it deals with different focuses, ideals, and beliefs of that time. Later in 50 years when we read this again we will have whole different opinion of this poem.
I agree with your interpretation of New Historicism. There is not only one way to look at history, everybody has their own ideals and beliefs that can change the way someone looks at a certain period of time. The way someone interprets a war can change in ten years and may even change again in a hundred years.
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