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Formalism

In: English and Literature

Submitted By amel
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Formalism

Formalism - all information essential to interpretation of a piece of literature must be found within the work.
In formalism, there is no need for bringing outside information.
It includes history, politics and society of the time.
Questions that a formalism critic would ask are: what is the genre or form of the piece of literature? Who is speaking in the piece of literature? What is the argument, thesis or subject of the piece of literature? What is the structure of the piece of literature? How does the piece of literature make use of the setting? What feelings are evoked as the reader interprets the text?
The advantages of formalism are: it does not require much research; it emphasizes the value of literature apart from its context (makes it timeless); virtually all critical approaches must begin here; it appreciates literary devices.
The disadvantages of formalism are: the text is seen in isolation; it ignores the context of the work; it does not account for allusions; it reduces literature to little more than a collection of rhetorical devices.
In 1915 the Moscow Linguistic Circle was founded.
In 1916 the Petrograd “Society for the Study of Poetic Language” was founded.
In 1929-1930 it was censured by Stalin for “undue preoccupation with ‘mere’ form, bourgeois ‘escapism,’ and like offenses.”
In 1930s The Prague Linguistic Circle was founded (René Wellek, Roman Jakobson).
In 1960s it influenced Anglo-American New Criticism and French Structuralism
Liteariness was a primary object of study. The Formalists read literary texts in order to discover their “literariness“ to highlight the devices and technical elements introduced by writers in order to make language literary.
Roman Jakobson (1896-1982): distinguished between “poetic” language and “practical” language. Practical language: language resources (sounds, morphological segment etc) are merely a means of communication. Poetic language: language resources have automatic value.
In formalism, the form aims to defamiliarize. Defamiliarization: “make it strange”.
It focuses on “motivation,” or the functional role of literary devices.
It tends to highlight art which is not fully motivated or which deliberately tears away motivation. It’s a moment of the narrative self –reflexiveness.
Story: chronological events; marked by real-life motivations.
Plot: the artistic arrangement of events.
The dialogic nature of formalism itself: In his defense of the primacy of form, Shklovsky explained that "a new form appears not in order to express a new content, but in order to replace an old form which has already lost its artistic value.”
Literary history = an evolutionary accretion of innovative devices.
Various individuals and groups advocating or at least incorporating a Marxist perspective on literature attacked the Formalists for neglecting the social and ideological discourses impinging upon the structure and function of the poetic work.
Formalism leads to development of reading strategies, authorial techniques, and language uses. Formalism can occur in English class or when reading.

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