‫جمهورية العراق‬

‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬

‫جامعة الكوفة ‪/‬كلية اللغات‬

‫‪the main differences and similarities‬‬

‫‪between Russian formalism and new‬‬
‫‪criticism‬‬

‫بإشراف األستاذ‬ ‫اعداد الطالبة‬

‫د‪ .‬وئام البياتي‬ ‫مريم حيدر حطاب‬

Russian Formalism and New Criticism are two formalist literary movements
that took place in the first half of the twentieth century. In both these
literary scholarships, the work of literature or text itself is considered
crucial and is studied independently of its context or author’s intention.
Moreover, both these schools of thought mainly focus on poetry. Despite
these many similarities, there are also some notable differences between
these two literary schools.

Russian Formalism and New Criticism have many similarities, as both are
part of the early twentieth-century formalist movement. In both schools of
thought, the text itself is paramount and is studied independently of its
context or author's intent. Literary language is thought of as distinct from
ordinary language, and the form and structure of the text are considered to
provide more meaning than the content itself. These schools of criticism
are most commonly applied to poetry and encourage very close reading.

However, there are several distinct differences between the two schools of
thought. 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, literary devices,
themes, etc. Russian Formalism also affords some importance to the text's
language and structure, whereas New Criticism considers a text to be
completely self-contained, autonomous of its fabric. Furthermore, in
Russian Formalism, a process called "dematerialization" was privileged,
wherein reality of fact is created through the use of language.

In brief, Russian Formalism and New Criticism are two formalist literary
movements that took place in the first half of the twentieth century.
However, there is a difference between Russian Formalism and New
Criticism, especially in their focus on the form and content of a literary
work. Russian Formalism mainly focused on the form or structure of a
literary work, instead of its content. In contrast, New Criticism believed that
both form and content are equally important.