Russian Formalism

Russian Formalism was a literary movement and primarily a school of literary criticism / theory which developed in Russia in the early twentieth century. The leading members of the Russian Formalism included Boris Eichenbaum, Roman Jacobson, Vladimir Propp, and Viktor Shklovsky. According to Rene' Wellek, the movement sharply emphasizes the difference between literature and life, it rejects the usual biographical, psychological, and sociological explanations for literature. Although the practitioners of this method had diverse way of approaching formalism, the general idea that these critics focused on poetic techniques, language and the structure of literature. This was an attempt at making the study of literature more scientific. They focused on the texts themselves, giving less attention to authorial intent, biographical information, and cultural/historical significance. One of the goals was to distinguish literary language from all other language. One of the key principle of the Russian Formalism is "literariness". Literariness is a literary quality of a text which distinguishes between literary text with non-literary text.
Viktor Shklovsky was one of the more influential Russian Formalists. He endeavored to study literature for its structural functions and what makes it different from other language formations. He coined the term "defamilarization" to denote the way that literary differs from ordinary language. While Roman Jacobson described the object of study in literary science as the "literariness" of a work, Jan Mukarovsky emphasized that literariness consists in foregrounding of the linguistic medium, as Viktor Shklovsky described, is to estrange or defamilarize by medium. The primary aim of literature, in thus foregrounding its linguistics disrupting the modes of ordinary linguistic discourse, literature strange the world of everyday perception, and renew the readers' lost capacity for fresh sensation.
One of the most important examples of their 'highly ingenious methods' was the distinction between fabula (story) and syuzhet (plot),or, the events of the story and the way the story is told. Formalist analyzed the connection between story and plot. The formalist method widely influenced literary theory from the early 1900s onward. Given the focus on literary structure, the formalists had a large influence on subsequent structuralist theorists. And in turn, they would have an indirect influence on Post- Structuralist theorists. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aims and objectives of English language teaching

             Introduction " The study of language is the foundation of all other learning. Language defines us as human. To be human is to use language and to talk is to be a person". Language is a medium of communication. English is a powerful vehicle of communication serves as a link language in a multicultural and multilingual society like India and also as a global linguistic mediator. Prof. Jacob Tharu says " English is no longer some remote but a powerful mystery, lying hidden in the world of textbooks in examination ".    Aims of English language teaching     in India In India now English exist as a second language and the aim of teaching English in India is to help students to acquire practical command on English. "Thomson and Wyatt said that Indian students should not only understand English when it is spoken or written but also should be able to speak and write it". Thomson and Wyatt has told the four specific aims of teaching Eng
Read more

Coleridge Fancy and Imagination

          Introduction The Biographia Literaria an autobiography in discourse by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which he published in 1817. It was one of Coleridge's main critical studies. In this work, he discussed the elements of writing. The work is long and seemingly loosely structured, and although there are autobiographical elements, it is not a straightforward autobiography. Although the work is not written from Coleridge's poetic mind it is still written with the qualities and rhythm of the poetic. Through this discussion, he makes many value judgements, leaving his audience with a clear understand of his stance on certain issues. Some of the issues he tackles include politics, religion, social values and human identity. He expresses his own thoughts from a personal viewpoint.            Imagination Imagination in its real sense denotes the working of poetic minds upon external objects or objects visible to the eyes. Imaginative process sometimes adds additional
Read more

W. B. Yeats as a modern poet

                    Introduction William Yeats is often considered to be the 'last romantic' as opposed to being the founding father of modern poetry. Yet one can not simply place Yeats into just one mould, one rigid and defined style of poetry because as a writer during both periods of Romanticism and Modernism, Yeats straddles the line between the two periods and incorporates 'romantic ideologies' into his modern work. His poems seen as the examples of modern liyerature. In his poems, we found astounding variety, political note, realism, religion, mysticism and so on. And all these matters have made him a true modern poet. By nature he was a dreamer, a thinker,who fell under the spell of the folklore and the superstitions of the Irish peasantry. He is a prominent poet in modern times for his sense of moral wholeness of humanity and history.             Elements of Mysticism Yeats may be credited primary with the owner of contributing the elements of myst
Read more