The Historical Method: Its Value and The Mechanism of Its Use

Abstract

tastes and it can influence literature and poetry as well. Also, we are a reflection of our societies. Writers can show that effect in a clearer way more than others as they can reflect this impact by expressing their ideas through writing them down. That gift of writing gives the writers the ability to mirror their backgrounds, then their writings could be considered as a fingerprint which indicates their time, place and method.

There are many critical methodologies, and the historical approach is one of the first approaches that has received the attention of scholars in order to study the evolution of thought and language. In this study, the researcher aims at presenting and explaining the meaning of this historical approach by defining it and showing its importance in different scientific aspects. The researcher also tries to distinguish between the history of literature and the general history, showing the value of the historical approach in the old and modern Arabic criticism and putting it in the balance to illustrate its disadvantages and problems. At the end of the study, the researcher lists several results and confirms that the historical approach is important, but it cannot rely on itself. So, it needs and must be supported by the technical approach as the technical characteristics are necessary at every stage