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 project gutenberg selfpublishing. Petersburg through the group opoyaz, and in moscow via the moscow linguistic circle. By nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 4 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. 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 reason for this critical neglect is that in the years leading up to 1930, shklovsky is understood to have renounced formalism and spent the rest of his life writing safe, nonserious work. Debate about two poles defamiliarization is a core concept of russian formalism. The presentation explicates the school of theory and analysis which emerged around 1915 in russia and aimed teo create the science of literature. Defamiliarization is a core concept of russian formalism.
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. 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. Russian formalism, one of the twentieth centurys most important movements in literary criticism, has received far less attention than most of its rivals. 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. A central concept in 20thcentury art and theory, ranging over movements including dada, postmodernism, epic theatre, and science fiction, it is also used as a tactic by recent movements such as. 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.
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. It analyzed literature according to devices unique to literary works and focused on the literariness of a text. Defamiliarization and foregrounding are such important formalist principles that they lead directly into formalist definitions of literature itself. It arose in opposition to earlier and competing schools of criticism, which the formalists believed were focusing too much on extraliterary concerns, like history, sociology, and psychology, and not. 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. What are the major differences between russian formalism and. 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. 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. According to the russian formalists who coined the term, it is the central concept of art and poetry. Viktor shklovsky boris eichenbaum roman jakobson vladimir propp yuri tynianov understand artworks.
Petersburg, where shklovsky was the leader of the opayaz group. Formalism viewed literature as a distinct and separate entity, unconnected to historical or social causes or effects. 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 technique, thereby making the notion of defamiliarization as a central tenet of the russian formalism. Formalist film theory is a theory of film study that is focused on the formal, or technical, elements of a film. Defamiliarization by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 4.
Shklovsky uses the russian neologism ostranenie, the translation of which has. A satire on communism through defamiliarization krishanu adhikari jrf research scholar department of english, the english and foreign languages university, shillong meghalaya, pin 793022 abstract the term, defamiliarization, coined by one of the earliest practitioners. The work of the formalists had a general impact on later developments in structuralism and other theories of narrative. Russian formalism definition of russian formalism by the.
Russian formalism download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. The russian formalists concept of defamiliarization, proposed by. 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. Formalism and new criticism formalism is, as the name implies, an interpretive approach that emphasizes literary form and the study of literary devices within the text. It is the study of a text without taking into account any outside influence. Russian formalist, victor shklovsky, on defamiliarization. Defamiliarization defamiliarization of that which is or has become familiar automatically perceived is the basic use of literary language. Literary criticism 336 eng iirussian formalism dr mohammed fahmy raiayh 2. A school of literary criticism that emerged in russia around 1915, 3.
Defamiliarization by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 4 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. An essay by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 10. In 1929 1930, it was censured by stalin and its centre of activity moved to prague. Formalism russian a brief but influential 20thcentury critical method that originated in st. 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 survey of recent empirical studies of literary comprehension shows that little attention has been paid to the effects of literary style, often known as foregrounding. What is russian formalism, and what was its effect on.
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. Russian formalism synonyms, russian formalism pronunciation, russian formalism translation, english dictionary definition of russian. 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. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Engl 300 lecture 7 russian formalism open yale courses. It was not until after the russian revolution in 1917 that ther. Oct 16, 2010 examples of defamiliarization october 16, 2010 in interaction design 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.
The opojaz group, the society for the study of poetic language pomorska. 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. Apr 06, 2012 literary criticism, ii, russian formalism 1. According to russian formalism defamiliarization is the basic function of all devices 1987. 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. Austin hays rated it it was amazing jan 12, katy rated it really liked it apr 27, history of defamiliarization note. Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed, russian formalism, and soon after angloamerican new criticism. I will argue that purely formalist understandings of defamiliarization view this. Download pdf russianformalistcriticism free online. 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.
Compare and contrast between russian formalism and the new. A somewhat distinct russian group is the bakhtin school comprising mikhail bakhtin, pavlev medvedev, and valentin voloshinov. Art as technique by victor shklovsky 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 technique, thereby making the notion of defamiliarization as a central tenet of the russian formalism. View notes russian formalism and new criticism notes from eng 234wi at central michigan university. Victor shklovosky, a founder of the opayaz group in russia, occupies a significant position in russian formalism. 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. Defamiliarization or ostranenie is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way in order to enhance perception of the familiar. Chapter two explores the defamiliarization of language in gulliver s travels from three aspects. 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. Get an answer for what is russian formalism, and what was its effect on literature. He begins by distinguishing russian formalism from hermeneutics. Important formalists included roman jakobson and viktor shklovsky. In becoming a leader of the school of thought called russian formalism, he.
Russian formalism before and after the digital humanities the legacy of the moscow linguistic circle and the digital humanities today divergence vs. Among the leading representatives of the movement were boris eichenbaum, victor shklovsky, and roman jakobson. Pdf the presentation explicates the school of theory and analysis which emerged around 1915. 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. This approach was proposed by hugo munsterberg, rudolf arnheim, sergei eisenstein, and bela balazs. 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. Literary theory topic russian formalism, french formalism in very easy and simple style. Russian formalists advocated a scientific method for studying poetic language, to the exclusion of traditional psychological and culturalhistorical approaches. Zainul this study aimed to analyse the plot in relation to the characters found in the selected texts. Sterne lays bare the structure of the novel, which increases.
Brecht and russian formalism in britain in the 1970s. Russian formalism and new criticism russian formalism. It is a process of transformation where language asserts its power to affect our perception. 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. Habituation devours works, clothes, furniture, ones wife, and the fear of war. Defamiliarization is an old concept, stemming from russian formalism which can be placed in the period between 1915 and 1930 approximately. Verfremdung in german, which refers to the intentional deviation from practical, everyday language in poetry and literature. Formalism 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 i. In other words, devices like diction choices, metaphor, ambiguity, parallelism. 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 formalist, victor shklovsky, on defamiliarization as. 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. One of its representatives, viktor shklovsky coined the term defamiliarization ostranenie in russian. According to shklovsky the technique is meant to challenge the readers.
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. In gullivers travels, through creating four defamiliarized spaces, adopting restricted omniscient narrative perspective and inserting peculiar narrators, swift narrated a legendary story full of suspenses for readers. Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text. 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. Formalism, like structuralism, sought to place the study of literature on a. Shklovsky did come to discard formalism, at least in its unevolved form, in 1930.
In fact, as willett points out, verfremdungseffekt is a translation of the russian critic viktor shklovskijs phrase priem ostranenija, or device for making. Russian formalism was probably the first school in literary theory that looked at poetry and literature in general as true linguistic phenomena. A school of literary theory and analysis that emerged in russia around 1915, devoting itself to the study of. Russian formalism and defamiliarization on world literature. Four essays 1965, and ann jeffersons russian formalism in ann jefferson and david robeys modern literary theory. Russian formalism challenged the traditional idea of critical literary analysis that art should conceal its literary devices. The process of making strange the familiar, of putting the old in new light. Defamiliarization has been associated with the poet and playwright bertolt brecht, whose verfremdungseffekt estrangement effect was a potent element of his approach to theater. Russian formalism was a school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. 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. The definition of estrangement first appeared in print in shklovskys essay art as device iskusstvo kak priem i n 1916. It is a school of literary criticism that originated in the former russia around 1915. Viktor shklovsky, who is a theorist of russian formalism, has pointed out that the technique of art is to.
Russian formalism the johns hopkins guide to literary. Well, maybe that day, but stuff started getting way stricter under stalin, so most of the formalists ended up arrested or quietly fled the country. 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. 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. Pages in category russian formalism the following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total. For writing to have literariness, it had to meet certain formalistic. Introduction to the russian formalist tradition 09. A school of literary theory and analysis that emerged in russia around 1915, devoting itself to the study of literariness, i. Part one of victor erlichs russian formalism 1981, lee lemon and marion reiss trans. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream.
Formalism s scientific language and methodical aspirations are discussed. What are the basic differences between russian formalism and. A collection of his essays and articles on film was published in literature and cinematographyfirst english edition aadhu rated it liked it may 01, its influence would be widely felt in shkloovsky twentieth century art and literary criticism. Formalist literary theory essay sample new york essays. Russian formalist, victor shklovsky, on defamiliarization as one of the essential roles of art and literature 1917 posted on february 3, 2009 by santi tafarella 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. Examining formalism in light of more recent developments in literary theory, peter steiner here offers the most comprehensive critique of formalism to date. Art as technique by victor shklovsky bachelorandmaster. Literary criticism 336 eng ii russian formalism dr mohammed fahmy raiayh 2. University of calicut methodology of literature study material. 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. Russian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. Russian formalism and the digital humanities monday, april, 2015 9. Defamiliarization was further expanded by the prague school to the concept of foregrounding, the way in which words and elements rise to the foreground from the background of the text to emphasize the interiority of the work.
Art and literature have the ability to make us see the world anew to make that which has become familiar, because we have been overexposed to it, strange again. Application of the concept of defamiliarization in. Art as technique shklovsky pdf art as technique by victor shklovsky. Russian formalism is the european counterpart of the angloamerican new criticism. Nov 02, 2016 russian formalism or east european formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory that originated in moscow moscow linguistic circle and st. Art as technique 1917 viktor shklovsky art is thinking in images. He is one of the major figures associated with russian formalism.
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