Defamiliarization is an old concept, stemming from russian formalism which can be placed in the period between 1915 and 1930 approximately. Examining formalism in light of more recent developments in literary theory, peter steiner here offers the most comprehensive critique of formalism to date. Russian formalism second edition 2005 russian formalism is the name for a group of literary scholars and linguists who between 1916 and 1929, while most were still in their twenties, developed a series of innovative theoretical concepts, claims, models, and methodological norms concerning various aspects of the literary system and its study. Defamiliarization comprises both the slowing down and the increased difficulty impeding of the process of reading and comprehending and an awareness of the literary procedures devices. Its principles posed a great shift from the traditional approaches during its time, and so it sparked a movement in the field of literary studies.
This is a picture of viktor shklovsky, one of the main voices behind a way of thinking about literature that today is known as russian formalism. When marxism rejected the formalists and certain ones fled to exile, the prague school of formalism added concepts such as defamiliarization, the way in which devices are applied to words or. Russian formalism before and after the digital humanities the legacy of the moscow linguistic circle and the digital humanities today divergence vs. He argued that defamiliarization is, more or less, the point of all art. Formalist literary theory essay sample new york essays. A term used by the russian formalist viktor shklovsky to describe the capacity of art to counter the deadening effect of habit and convention by investing the familiar with strangeness and thereby deautomatizing perception. Formalists advanced the concept of ostranenie, or defamiliarization, arguing that literature, by calling attention to itself as such, estranged the reader. It is not coincidental that several articles in the volume refer to russian formalism s main concept ostranenie. Pages in category russian formalism the following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total. Formalism is a literary theory that was spearheaded by two main bodies russian formalists and new critics which focused on understanding the literary text through the text itself.
Engl 300 lecture 7 russian formalism open yale courses. Formalism also known as new criticism a basic approach to reading and understanding literature armstrong atlantic state university formalist theory has dominated the american literary scene for most of the twentieth century, and it has retained its great influence in many academic quarters. Formalism,in the broadest sense, was the dominant mode of academic literary study in the unitedstates and united kingdom from the end of the second world war through the 1970s,and particularly the formalism of the new critics, including, among others, i. Russian formalist, victor shklovsky, on defamiliarization. In other words, the difference between potebnyas point of. The word defamiliarization was coined by the early 20thcentury russian literary critic viktor shklovsky in his essay art as technique. It was not until after the russian revolution in 1917 that ther. Russian formalism motivation key termsconcepts motivation defamiliarization vladimir propp defamiliarization victory shklovsky saw laurence sternes novel tristram shandy as being without any kind of motivation.
A school of literary theory and analysis that emerged in russia around 1915, devoting itself to the study of literariness, i. Habituation devours works, clothes, furniture, ones wife, and the fear of war. Zainul this study aimed to analyse the plot in relation to the characters found in the selected texts. What are the basic differences between russian formalism. Defamiliarization by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 4. Defamiliarization refers to a writers taking an everyday object that we all recognize and, with a wave of his or her authorial magic wand, rendering that same object weirdly unfamiliar to usstrange even. The paper is focused on the pragmatics of avantgarde behaviour analysed in comparison with the formalist theory of art. Shocking epatage of russian futurism is taken as a good example of transgressive artistic practice aimed at. Eikhenbaums dependency on core ideas of marxist and darwinian philosophies of struggle and evolution is explained. What are the major differences between russian formalism. An essay by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 10. I personally feel that defamiliarization is found almost everywhere form is found.
Jun 11, 2014 this is a picture of viktor shklovsky, one of the main voices behind a way of thinking about literature that today is known as russian formalism. Russian formalism, one of the twentieth centurys most important movements in literary criticism, has received far less attention than most of its rivals. Russian formalist, victor shklovsky, on defamiliarization as. Roman jakobson, mentioned earlier as, arguably, the most important figure of russian formalism, took the lead amongst the formalist scholars in defining the object of their analysis. In the theory of the formal method 1927, boris eichenbaum defends russian formalism against various attacks. The formalist school of thought refused to naturalize text by attributing it to the state of mind of the author, but instead it focused its critical writing on the novels literariness which checks naturalization. Pdf russian formalism and its legacy john j h lee academia. For writing to have literariness, it had to meet certain formalistic. Jan 24, 20 formalism is a literary theory that was spearheaded by two main bodies russian formalists and new critics which focused on understanding the literary text through the text itself. He begins by distinguishing russian formalism from hermeneutics. Before the twentieth century, most literary theorists tended to view the relation between text and meaning through the prism of history, psychology, symbolism, and literary biography.
Russian formalism, which emerged around 1915 and flourished in the 1920s, was associated with the opojaz society for the study of poetic language and with the moscow linguistic society one of the leading figures of which was roman jakobson and. Russian formalism emerged in the opening decades of the twentieth century as a reaction to the mystification of literature found in the influential paneuropean arts movement of symbolism. Art makes language strange, as well as the world that the language presents. Weve been exploring the idea of defamiliarization as a means of making the familiar seem strange and jeff requested examples so heres the first one that popped into my mind tiltshift photography. Russian formalism definition of russian formalism by the. If you would like to support the project, please visit the project page, where you can get more details on how you can help, and where you can join the general discussion about philosophy content on wikipedia.
Defamiliarization and foregrounding are such important formalist principles that they lead directly into formalist definitions of literature itself. Defamiliarization a term coined by the russian formalists to refer to the artful aspects of a work that, by making the familiar seem strange, awaken the reader to new experiences and understandings. Formalism was the dominant mode of academic literary study in the us at least from the end of the second world war through the 1970s, especially as embodied in rene wellek and austin warrens theory of literature 1948, 1955. Petersburg through the group opoyaz, and in moscow via the moscow linguistic circle. Points of weakness defamiliarization habitualization shklovsky is referring to things we do in everyday life, things which are repetitive, where many processes in our daily life are unconscious. Viktor shklovsky boris eichenbaum roman jakobson vladimir propp yuri. Aug 23, 2011 this post began as a response to some comments made by douglas storm on ambers most recent post.
Habituation devours works, clothes, furniture, ones wife, and the fear of. Defamiliarization is not simply a question of perception. Victor shklovsky coined the term defamiliarization to describe the role that art and literature can play in turning us around in the world so that we see things with fresh eyes. Formalism, in the broadest sense, was the dominant mode of academic literary study in the united states and united kingdom from the end of the second world war through the 1970s, and particularly the formalism of the new critics, including, among others, i. Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was a russian literary theorist. It includes the work of a number of highly influential russian and soviet scholars such as viktor shklovsky, yuri tynianov, vladimir propp, boris eichenbaum, roman jakobson, boris tomashevsky, grigory gukovsky who revolutionised literary criticism between 1914 and the 1930s by establishing the. Important formalists included roman jakobson and viktor shklovsky. Viktor shklovsky boris eichenbaum roman jakobson vladimir propp yuri tynianov understand artworks. What are the basic differences between russian formalism and. Formalism viewed literature as a distinct and separate entity, unconnected to historical or social causes or effects. Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text. Formalism began in russia during the 20th century by a group of linguis. Defamiliarization is a literary technique in which the process of writing is itself focused on more than any particular plotline.
The formalist school of thought refused to naturalize text by attributing it to the state of mind of the author, but instead it focused its critical writing on. So when we shmoopers read this premodern lyric, we might notice a few more things than we did when we sang it in a circle of other fiveyearolds. Part one of victor erlichs russian formalism 1981, lee lemon and marion reiss trans. An important question to consider is why a theory in poetics should have stirred the heated debate, about questions of ideology and art, in the first place. Examining formalism in light of more recent developments in literary theory, peter steiner here offers the. Russian futurists could have offered the best testing material for the freshly created theory of ostranenie, an artistic aptitude geared at making things anew. Shklovsky gives us the example of holding a pen for the first time. The language of literature is highly innovative and creative and. Russian formalism synonyms, russian formalism pronunciation, russian formalism translation, english dictionary definition of russian formalism. Formalism also known as new criticism a basic approach to.
Russian formalism challenged the traditional idea of critical literary analysis that art should conceal its literary devices. Brecht and russian formalism in britain in the 1970s. Pdf the presentation explicates the school of theory and analysis which emerged around 1915 in russia and aimed teo create the science of literature. Russian formalism, which emerged around 1915 and flourished in the 1920s, was associated with the opojaz society for the study of poetic language and with the moscow linguistic society one of the leading figures of which was roman jakobson and prague.
According to the russian formalists who coined the term, it is the central concept of art and poetry. Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed, russian formalism, and soon after angloamerican new criticism. Definition of formalismformalism is, as the name implies, an interpretive approach that emphasizes literary form and the study of literary devices within the text. According to russian formalism defamiliarization is the basic function of all devices 1987. Rigorous or excessive adherence to recognized forms, as in religion or art. It includes the work of a number of highly influential russian and soviet scholars such as viktor shklovsky, yuri tynianov, vladimir propp, boris eichenbaum, roman jakobson, boris tomashevsky, grigory gukovsky who revolutionised literary criticism between 1914 and the 1930s by establishing. In fact, as willett points out, verfremdungseffekt is a translation of the russian critic viktor shklovskijs phrase priem ostranenija, or device for making. He founded opoyaz society for the study of poetic language in the year 1916 which planted the seeds of russian formalism viktor shklovsky opposed bolshevism, a farleft marxist faction. For writing to have literariness, it had to meet certain formalistic criteria. Russian formalism was a school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. The opojaz group, the society for the study of poetic language pomorska. Ariful islam laskar abstract robert frost 18741963, a true representative of american literature, deals with the idyllic pastoral landscape of america and traces the transition of american life and society of his time in a. He was also associated with the russian army during the 1 st world war. An able champion, he describes formalisms evolution, notes its major figures and works, clears away decayed axioms, and rescues literature from primitive historicism and other dangers.
Application of the concept of defamiliarization in. Defamiliarization is a core concept of russian formalism. Defamiliarization has been associated with the poet and playwright bertolt brecht, whose verfremdungseffekt estrangement effect was a potent element of his approach to theater. Moderator of rrussianformalism comments are locked. Pdf permanent defamiliarization as rhetorical device or.
In reaction against the vagueness of previous literary theories, it attempted a scientific description of literature especially poetry as a special use of language with observable. A school of literary criticism that emerged in russia around 1915, 3. This technique involves exploring the differences between. Russian formalism synonyms, russian formalism pronunciation, russian formalism translation, english dictionary definition of russian. What are some good examples of formalism in literature. Pdf the presentation explicates the school of theory and analysis which emerged around 1915 in russia and aimed teo create. This article is within the scope of wikiproject philosophy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of content related to philosophy on wikipedia. Russian formalism focused on defamiliarization, a making the world seem strange or new.
What are the major differences between russian formalism and. Presented at the 100 years of russian formalism, institut slavianovedenia. Russian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. The objectives are to unravel the extent to which the plot and characters of the selected serial texts conform to the framework used and to investigate how consistent. Russian formalism, marxism, poetics, socialist realism, science, art. University of calicut methodology of literature study material. Viktor shklovsky russian formalist criticism in literature. English core paper methodology of literature en5b03 methodology of literature pdf to download the material click on the above link topics covered russian formalism, new criticism, archetypal criticism, myth criticism, deconstruction. The russian formalists concept of defamiliarization, proposed by viktor shklovsky in his art as technique, refers to the literary device whereby language is used in such a way that ordinary and familiar objects are made to look different. Russian formalism the johns hopkins guide to literary. One of its representatives, viktor shklovsky coined the term defamiliarization ostranenie in russian.
Formalism is a method of criticism which examines a literary text or artwork through its aesthetic composition such as form, language, technique and style formalism, 2018. Presto changeo, our perspective shifts and we see the object in. So his notion of defamiliarization also means estrangement, 35 stevens, literary theory, 142. Russian literary theorist, critic, and writer of experimental prose. Russian formalism was probably the first school in literary theory that looked at poetry and literature in general as true linguistic phenomena. Jan 16, 2017 before the twentieth century, most literary theorists tended to view the relation between text and meaning through the prism of history, psychology, symbolism, and literary biography. Dec 09, 2012 formalism,in the broadest sense, was the dominant mode of academic literary study in the unitedstates and united kingdom from the end of the second world war through the 1970s,and particularly the formalism of the new critics, including, among others, i. Its principles posed a great shift from the traditional approaches during its time, and so it sparked a movement in the field of literary studies that would. The definition of estrangement first appeared in print in shklovskys essay art as device iskusstvo kak priem i n 1916. Apr 28, 2014 russian formalism focused on defamiliarization, a making the world seem strange or new. Russian formalism and the digital humanities monday, april, 2015 9. Victor erlich is the author of russian formalism 3. Verfremdung in german, which refers to the intentional deviation from practical, everyday language in poetry and literature. Formalism russian a brief but influential 20thcentury critical method that originated in st.
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