Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ralph Cohen launched New Literary History in 1969 during the University of Virginia Sesquicentennial Celebration. He created the journal because no English literary publication existed that focused on critical theory or reexamined literary history at that time.
New Literary History publishes essays dealing with the nature of literary theory and the aims of literature itself. The content covers hermeneutics, the reading process, and the relation of linguistics to literature while accepting articles from other disciplines that help interpret problems of literary history or study.
Wolfgang Iser described the journal as attempting to bring Anglo-American criticism into a close interrelationship with Continental approaches. This effort gave New Literary History a unique profile among academic publications of its time by serving as a conduit connecting European theoretical methods with English-speaking scholarship.
The Council of Editors of Learned Journals has awarded New Literary History six times for its contributions. These honors recognize the journal's impact on the field of literary theory and interpretation alongside years of consistent quality and innovative content published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
In 2001, New Literary History became the first English-language literary journal printed annually in Chinese. A selection of essays from the publication was translated and released each year for Chinese readers to allow non-English speakers to engage directly with the theoretical debates presented in the original text.