Literary criticism new criticism and russian formalism. Mar 08, 2019 literary theory topic russian formalism, french formalism in very easy and simple style. What are the basic differences between russian formalism and. For a fuller account, consult peter steiner, russian formalism 1984. Important formalists included roman jakobson and viktor shklovsky.
Apr, 2019 in the field of literary criticism, a formalist approach is one that studies a text as a text and nothing more. The school of new criticism is comparable to russian formalism, although it did not evolve from it. Both theories aim at deriving meaning, not from content, but in. New criticism developed as a reaction to the older philological and literary history schools of the us north, which, influenced by nineteenthcentury german scholarship, focused on the history and meaning of individual words and their relation to foreign and ancient languages, comparative sources, and the biographical circumstances of the authors. 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.
Before the twentieth century, most literary theorists tended to view the relation between text and meaning through the prism of history, psychology, symbolism, and. Russian formalism download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. A formalist approach 4 the shift from the moral approach to the scientific one is important. Examining formalism in light of more recent developments in literary theory, peter steiner here offers the most comprehensive critique of formalism to date. Opoyaz, an acronym for russian words meaning society for the study of poetic language, founded in 1916 at st. Like most new schools of thought, formalism was in large part a. Leavis 23 2 russian formalism and the bakhtin school 29 shklovsky, mukar. Literary theory topic russian formalism, french formalism in very easy and simple style. Both schools americanenglish new criticism and russian formalism are types of formalism. A basic approach to reading and understanding literature. Russian formalism, new criticism, neoaristotelianism. Petersburg later leningrad and led by viktor shklovsky. The concept of affective fallacy is a direct attack on impressionistic criticism, which argues that the readers response to a poem is the ultimate indication of its value.
There is no direct historical relationship between new criticism and russian formalism, each. Russian formalism and new criticism introduction the field of literary criticism has been moulded by various criticisms like mimetic criticism. Formalism, new criticism, structuralism, poststructuralism. What are the major differences between russian formalism and. New critics treat a work of literature as if it were a selfcontained, selfreferential object. 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. Ppt russian formalism and new criticism 1 dounia doudou. 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. Unlike russian formalism, new criticism was not a school in the strict sense of the term, since its principles were only defined in later writings in defence of new criticism, e. Both theories aim at deriving meaning, not from content, but in the structure and form of literature.
Actually, this theory is well known to students because it dominated the study of literature from the 1930s to the 1970s. A checklist of formalist critical questions here is a list of some questions from a formalist perspective. Russian formalism challenged the traditional idea of critical literary analysis that art should conceal its literary devices. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory 5th edition. He begins by distinguishing russian formalism from hermeneutics. In the field of literary criticism, a formalist approach is one that studies a text as a text and nothing more. Study flashcards on literary criticism new criticism and russian formalism at. Formalism is a school of literary criticism that originated in the former soviet union during the first world war. 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. American new criticism, led by american critics such as john crowe ransom and cleanth brooks. It had its heyday in the 1920s and it acquired its name from its emphasis on form rather than on content.
The new criticism is a type of formalist literary criticism that reached its height during the 1940s and 1950s and that received its name from john crowe ransoms 1941 book the new criticism. Russian formalism and new criticism are two different movements in literature theory. The new criticism is a type of formalist literary criticism that reached its height during the 1940 s and 1950s and that received its name from john crowe ransoms 1941 book the new criticism. Both theories aim at deriving meaning, not from content, but in the structure and form. Russian formalism, one of the twentieth centurys most important movements in literary criticism, has received far less attention than most of its rivals. New critics may find tension, irony, or paradox in this relation, but they usually resolve it into unity and coherence of meaning biddle 100. What are the basic differences between russian formalism and new criticism. Rediscovered in the west in the 1960s, the work of the russian formalists has had an important influence on structuralist theories of literature, and on some of the more recent varieties of marxist literary criticism. Formalists disagreed about what specific elements make a literary work good or bad. Russian formalism was a school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. Where literary criticism is concerned, what are the major differences between russian formalism and new criticism. 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. Formalism also known as new criticism a basic approach to.
For example, a formalist reading of a poem would focus on its rhythms, rhymes. Russian formalism is a literaryscholarshipwhichoriginated in theseconddecade of thetwentiethcentury, andwasforciblysupressed in 1930. 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. New criticism formalismstructuralism the first critical theory we will examine is called formalism or structuralism known as new criticism today.
Petersburg through the group opoyaz, and in moscow via the moscow linguistic circle. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. These questions can be applicable to the analysis of a short story or a novel. Viktor shklovsky boris eichenbaum roman jakobson vladimir propp yuri tynianov understand artworks. Russian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. Russian formalism stressed that what a piece of literature means cannot be dismissed from how it says it. Apr 28, 2014 both schools americanenglish new criticism and russian formalism are types of formalism. Apr 27, 2020 the school of new criticism is comparable to russian formalism, although it did not evolve from it. New criticism, incorporating formalism, examines the relationships between a texts ideas and its form, between what a text says and the way it says it. The field of literary criticism has been moulded by various criticisms like mimetic criticism, pragmatic criticism, expressive criticism, historical criticism, biographical criticism, sociological criticism, psychological criticism and archetypal. American new criticism, although it developed independently, is sometimes called formalist because, like european formalism, it stresses the analysis of the literary work as a selfsufficient verbal entity, constituted by internal relations and independent of reference either to the state of mind of the author or to the external world. Both schools of thought believe that literature must be studied on its own terms. Russian formalism and angloamerican new criticism by thompson, ewa and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. In russian formalism, a differentiation is made between form and content, whereas new criticism does not make such a differentiation, maintaining.
Formalism, also called russian formalism, russian russky formalism, innovative 20thcentury russian school of literary criticism. Both movements draw attention to the fact that literature is nothing but the use of language, and that all the meaning is derived from the text and the readers job is to determine that meaning. 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 warren s theory of literature 1948, 1955. Click download or read online button to get russian formalism book now. From the platonic urantiformalism, the reaction to which gave shape and purpose to classical and early modern literary theory, to the agon between form and history that dominated 20thcentury literary criticism and pedagogy, the concept of form and the methodologies of its study formalism have at once grounded and challenged our understanding of literature. Russian formalism russian formalists advocated a scientific method for studying poetic language, to the exclusion of traditional psychological and culturalhistorical approaches. It cannot be evaluated in terms of cultural and historical externalities. Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed, russian formalism, and soon after angloamerican new criticism. 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, poststructuralism, reader response read more. The focus of study should be the literary strategies and craft of the writer. In russian formalism, a differentiation is made between form and content, whereas new criticism does not make such a differentiation, maintaining that texts are unified through their patterns. Rene wellek, the literary theory and aesthetics of the prague school, in discriminations.
Engl 300 lecture 7 russian formalism open yale courses. Russian formalism the johns hopkins guide to literary. 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. Russian formalism and angloamerican new criticism a. In retrospect, formalism was only the first literary draft of a plentitude of modern russian and european isms. New critics may find tension, irony, or paradox in this relation, but they usually resolve it into. 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. Name given to a style of criticism advocated by a group of academics writing in the first half of the 20th century. Russian formalism anglo american new criticism abebooks. Russian literary criticism in the nineteenth century literature is the essence of a nations history. Eliot, richards, empson 15 the american new critics 18 moral formalism. 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. 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.