Russian formalism s major contributions can be approached in terms of basic perspectives and major research areas. Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was a leading figure in the russian formalist movement of the 1920s and had a profound effect on twentiethcentury russian literature. Shklovskys art as technique almost exclusively in relation to literature. Shklovsky brings out that there comes a point were perceptions become habitual thus becoming. Petersburg, where shklovsky was the leader of the opayaz group. Viktor shklovsky boris eichenbaum roman jakobson vladimir propp yuri. What is russian formalism, and what was its effect on. In the field of literary criticism, a formalist approach is one that. The lifeblood of literature humor and things related were no laughing matter to the russian formalists, but when it came to art, viktor shklovsky, boris. An essay by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 10. Broadly speaking, they wanted to understand artworks by breaking them down into their constituent parts, or devices priemwhat we. Victor shklovosky, a founder of the opayaz group in russia, occupies a significant position in russian formalism by.
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. His work was deeply informed by his long and eventful life. Victor shklovosky, a founder of the opayaz group in russia, occupies a significant position in russian formalism by introducing his literary concept of art as. Opoyaz, an acronym for russian words meaning society for the study of poetic language, founded in 1916 at st. Viktor shklovsky russian formalist criticism in literature. Toward a formalist and quantitative analysis of socialistrevolutionary how. Russian verse latent plot analysis using the syuzhet package in r the verbal mass and the database. It is excellent in many ways but it is a pity that erlich pretty much reduces viktor shklovskys importance in the movement. Victor shklovsky, art as technique born in 1893, victor shklovsky was a leading figure in the school of literary and linguistic theory known as russian formalism, which flourished at the time of the russian revolution. Examining formalism in light of more recent developments in literary theory, peter steiner here offers the. Formalists disagreed about what specific elements make a literary work good or bad. Russian literary theorist, critic, and writer of experimental.
He begins by distinguishing russian formalism from hermeneutics. He was also associated with the russian army during the 1 st world war. In the article, i have decided to sketch a brief portrait of the most significant russian formalist. Russian formalism is the european counterpart of the angloamerican new criticism. A brief history of formalism the formalist tradition developed in russian literary criticism in the late nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth, especially in the work of the moscow linguistic circle. Brecht and russian formalism in britain in the 1970s. Literary criticism 336 eng iirussian formalism dr mohammed fahmy raiayh 2. A school of literary criticism that emerged in russia around 1915, 3.
Several of his books have been translated into english, including zoo, or letters not about love, third factory, theory of prose, a sentimental journey, energy of delusion. Viktor shklovsky, in full viktor borisovich shklovsky, born january 24 january 12, old style, 1893, st. At first, opponents of the movement of russian formalism applied the term formalism derogatorily, because of its focus on the formal patterns and technical devices of literature to the exclusion of its subject matter and social values. Formalism russian a brief but influential 20thcentury critical method that originated in st. Constructivism, born in the 1920s and 30s, concentrated formalisms. In retrospect, formalism was only the first literary draft of a plentitude of modern russian and european isms. Even though several of erlichs conclusions are erroneous this is an important study. Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was both patriarch and enfant terrible of formalism, a literary and film scholar, a fiction writer and the protagonist of other peoples novels, instructor of an armored division and professor at the art history institute, revolutionary and counterrevolutionary. A school of literary theory and analysis that emerged in russia around 1915, devoting itself to the study of literariness, i. It is the first comprehensive book in the west on russian formalism. Chapter iv russian formalism and the dialectics of.
The major figures were victor shklovsky, roman jakobson, boris eikhenbaum, osip. Russian formalism challenged the traditional idea of critical literary analysis that art should conceal its literary devices. The most wellknown and influential figure of russian formalism was roman jakobson. American new criticism, led by american critics such as john crowe ransom and cleanth brooks. This video is a part of video series where arpita explains frequently asked critical theories in ugc net set jrf exams. Pdf russian formalism for and against digital humanities. Engl 300 lecture 7 russian formalism open yale courses. Get an answer for what is russian formalism, and what was its effect on literature. Russian formalism the johns hopkins guide to literary.
It is a school of literary criticism that originated in. 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. Art as technique 1917 viktor shklovsky art is thinking in images. Born in st petersburg, he attended st petersburg university, and then entered the army. 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 was a school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. Important formalists included roman jakobson and viktor shklovsky. The major focus lies on the term ostranenie that was firstly. It had its heyday in the 1920s and it acquired its name from. The russian formalists emerged from the russian revolution with ideas about the independence of literature. Viktor shklovskys toward a theory of the comic analyzes the problem geometrically. He was a major voice of formalism, a critical school that had great influence in russian literature in the 1920s. He was a russian and soviet literary theorist, critic.
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. 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. The russian formalist, victor shklovsky, reinterprets. Russian formalism was a literary movement in russia that started in 1915, where literary scholars like victor shklovsky, andrei bely, and potebnya had multiple theoretical aesthetics to how literature can be. I argue that nabokov manifests a range of bergsonian and formalist influences, the most salient of which is what may be termed the bergsonianshklovskyite notion of the. Russian formalism article about russian formalism by the. Two of shklovskys articles, the resurrection of the word and art as device are taken as a starting point for paving the way for a detailed analysis of the formal terminology. 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. It is the study of a text without taking into account any outside influence. Due to the time limit, i will speak about russian formalism primarily. 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. He fought in world war i, recording his experiences in a memoir, sentimentalnoe puteshestvie, vospominaniia 1923, translated as. Todays idea of humor compels a psychological reading, but russian formalism, which practiced replacing psychology with structure, offers an alternative.
Russian formalism is a school of literary criticism formed in russia that became highly influential in the early decades of the 1900s. Petersburg through the group opoyaz, and in moscow via the moscow linguistic circle. The initial perspective was aestheticist, ahistorical, reductive, and mechanistic and is associated with the early shklovskii. Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was one of the founders of the intellectual movement we today call russian formalism along with boris eichenbaum, roman jakobson, vladimir propp, yuri tynianov, others.
Viktor shklovskys 189 31984 c oncept of ostranenie, or estrangement,1 has become part of the basic vocabulary of literary theory and is familiar even to those who know little about its origins in russian formalism. Its central tenant is that the text of the writers work should be the focus of any inquiry or criticism regarding the work. Russian formalism, one of the twentieth centurys most important movements in literary criticism, has received far less attention than most of its rivals. Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was a russian literary theorist. The definition of estrangement first appeared in print in shklovskys essay art as device iskusstvo kak priem i n. Russian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. Russian formalism contributed a number of things to literary theory, including. 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. It was not until after the russian revolution in 1917 that ther. Russian formalism, associated with russian critics viktor shklovsky and roman jakobson among others, aimed to ascertain the qualities of a literary work as a kind of scientific object, emphasizing the socalled literariness of the text. Russian formalism, new criticism, neoaristotelianism. Petersburg, russiadied december 8, 1984, moscow, russian literary critic and novelist. Russian formalism download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
By then, however, they had produced essays that remain among the best defenses ever written for both literature and its theory. Defining the text in formalist literary analysis victor shklovsky and victor chernov on effective words. Arts scrupulous or excessive adherence to outward form at the expense of inner reality or content 2. Russian formalism and the dialectics of poetic language. Some of its concepts are still in use today in literary criticism. Art as technique by victor shklovsky victor shklovosky, a founder of the opayaz group in russia, occupies a significant position in vi,tor formalism by introducing his literary concept of art as technique, thereby making the notion of defamiliarization as a central tenet of the russian formalism. Modern narrative theory begins with russian formalism in the 1920s, specifically with the work of roman jakobson, yury tynyanov, and viktor shklovsky. The definition of estrangement first appeared in print in shklovskys essay art as device iskusstvo kak priem. Pdf the presentation explicates the school of theory and analysis which emerged around 1915 in russia and aimed teo create the science of literature. But, on the whole, shklovskys argument was more typical of formalism as a rationale for poetic experimenta. Eikhenbaums dependency on core ideas of marxist and darwinian philosophies of struggle and evolution is explained. Tynyanov combined his skills as a historical novelist with formalism to produce, with jakobson, theses on language 1928, read more. Formalism is a school of literary criticism that originated in the former soviet union during the first world war. Russian literature from 1750 onwards and on the basis of this corpus.
Petersburg later leningrad and led by viktor shklovsky. Nabokovs formalism is manifest in his invocation of structure, and his bergsonian essentialism in his insistence on the centrality of the individual creative consciousness. Formalism, also called russian formalism, russian russky formalism, innovative 20thcentury russian school of literary criticism. They enjoyed that independence until stalin shut them down. A type of literary theory and analysis which originated in moscow and st. Victor shklovskys 1914 essay on futurist poetry, the ressurrection of the word marked the.
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