New Comedy Greek drama from c. 320 bc to the mid-3rd century bc that offers a mildly satiric view of contemporary Athenian society. Unlike Old Comedy, which parodies public figures and events (see Aristophanes), New Comedy features fictional average citizens in domestic life. The chorus, the representative of forces larger than life, is reduced to a small band of musicians and dancers. Plays usually involve the conventional¬ ized situation of thwarted lovers and contain stock characters. Menander introduced the New Comedy and became its most famous exponent; Plau¬ tus and Terence translated its plays for the Roman stage. Elements of New Comedy influenced European drama down to the 18th century.
New Criticism or formalism Post-World War I school of Anglo- American literary theory that insisted on the intrinsic value of a work of art and focused attention on the individual work alone as an independent unit of meaning. New Critics were opposed to the practice of bringing historical or biographical data to bear on the interpretation of a work. The primary critical technique was analytic (or “close”) reading of the text, concentrating on its language, imagery, and emotional or intellectual ten¬ sions. Critics associated with the movement include I. A. Richards, Wil¬ liam Empson, John Crowe Ransom, and R. P. Blackmur (1904-1965).
New Deal U.S. domestic program of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt to bring economic relief (1933-39). The term was taken from Roosevelt’s speech accepting the 1932 presidential nomination, in which he promised “a new deal for the American people.” New Deal legislation was enacted mainly in the first three months of 1933 (Roosevelt’s “hundred days”) and estab¬ lished such agencies as the Civil Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps to alleviate unemployment, the National Recovery Administration to revive industrial production, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate financial institutions, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to support farm production, and the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide public power and flood control. A second period of legislation (1935—36), often called the second New Deal, established the National Labor Relations Board, the Works Progress Administration, and the social security system. Some leg¬ islation was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and some programs did not accomplish their aims, but many reforms were continued by later administrations and permanently changed the role of government. See also Public Works Administration.
New Delhi \'de-le\ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 294,783), capital of India, on the western bank of the Yamuna River, south of Old Delhi in Delhi capital territory. Built from 1912 to 1929, it was formally opened in 1931, when it became the capital. In contrast to the convoluted street plan of Old Delhi, New Delhi has an orderly, diagonal pattern and gives a feeling of openness and quiet. The main east-west axis is Central Vista Park, a thoroughfare lined with government buildings, museums, and research centres.
New Democratic Party Canadian democratic socialist political party. Formed in 1961 from the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, it favours a mixed public-private economy, broadened social benefits, and an inter¬ nationalist foreign policy. It formed governments in Saskatchewan, Man¬ itoba, and British Columbia intermittently from the 1940s to the 1990s, in the Yukon Territory from the 1980s, and in Ontario in the 1990s. At the national level, however, it has enjoyed only marginal success. The NDP draws much of its support from the farmers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the urban workers of British Columbia and Ontario.
New Economic Policy (NEP) Economic policy of the Soviet Union (1921-28). A temporary retreat from the failed War Communism policy of extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism, the new measures included the return of most agriculture, retail trade, and light industry to private ownership (though the state retained control of heavy industry, banking, transport, and foreign trade) and the reintroduction of money into the economy. The policy allowed the economy to recover from years of war. In 1928 chronic grain shortages prompted Joseph Stalin to begin to eliminate private ownership of farmland and to collectivize agriculture under state control, effectively ending the NEP. By 1931 state control was reimposed over all industry and commerce.
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New England ► New Mexico I 1351
New England Region, northeastern U.S. It consists of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Con¬ necticut and has an area of 66,667 sq mi (172,668 sq km). Named by John Smith, who explored its shores in 1614, it was later settled by English Puritans (see Puritanism). The New England colonies, fueled by self- sufficient farmers, evolved representative governments. The area’s numer¬ ous harbours soon promoted the growth of overseas commerce and a vigorous shipbuilding industry. In the 18th century it became a hotbed of agitation for independence from Britain, and its patriots played leading roles in the American Revolution.
New England Confederation or United Colonies of New England Organization of four American colonies. In 1643 delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth met to solve trade, boundary, and religious disputes and to form a common defense against the French, Dutch, and Indians. They drew up articles of agree¬ ment and established a directorate of eight commissioners. The confed¬ eration was weakened by its advisory status and by the 1665 merger of Connecticut and New Haven. It was active in King Philip's War but dis¬ solved in 1684 when the Massachusetts charter was revoked.
New England Range Upland area, northeastern New South Wales, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, it stretches about 200 mi (320 km) parallel to the eastern coast, constituting Australia’s largest plateau region. The highest point, Round Mountain, is 5,300 ft (1,615 m). New England National Park, on the eastern slope of the range, is one of sev¬ eral semitropical and temperate rainforest areas designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986.
New England Renaissance See American Renaissance
New France Possessions of France in North America from 1534 to the Treaty of Paris in 1763. After the first land claim for France by Jacques Cartier (1534), the company of New France was established in 1627. With the explorations by Samuel de Champlain, Jacques Marquette, La Salle, Louis Jolliet, and others, the boundaries of New France expanded beyond the lower St. Lawrence River to include the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley. From 1689 rivalry between England and France affected their possessions in North America. The French and Indian War (1754-63) resulted in the cession of Canada and the territory east of the Mississippi River to England and the territory west of the Mississippi to Spain, with France keeping only the islands of St.-Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland.
New Goa See Panaji
New Granada, Viceroyalty of Spanish viceroyalty in northwest¬ ern South America during colonial times. The region was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century and was initially subject to the Viceroy¬ alty of Peru. It became a separate viceroyalty—first established tempo¬ rarily in 1717, and later permanently in 1739—that included the modem countries of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Its capital was Santa Fe (modern Bogota). It was liberated from Spain in 1823.
New Guinea Indonesian Irian \,ir-e-'an\ Island, eastern Maay Archi- peago, western Pacific Ocean, north of Australia. Divided roughly in half between Indonesia (west) and Papua New Guinea (east), New Guinea is the second largest island in the world (after Greenand). It is about 1,500 mi (2,400 km) long and 400 mi (650 km) wide at its widest point, with an area of about 309,000 sq mi (800,000 sq km). The terrain ranges from lowland rainforest to fertile highlands and a rugged mountainous spine; its climate is tropical. Copper and gold are its chief mineral resources. The majority of the people of New Guinea are subsistence farmers.