NAME: SHAHID IQBAL

ROLL NO. 2113

CLASS: BS ENGLISH LITERATURE

SEMESTER: 5 T H EVENING

SUBMITTED TO: SIR M. YAR TANVIR

ASSIGNMENT TOPIC: 1) DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN FORMALISM AND NEW CRITICISM

GOVT. POSTGRADUATE COLLEGE SAMANABAD

FAISALABAD
Difference between Russian Formalism and New Criticism

Definition: -

Russian formalism was a school of literary criticism in Russia from the

1910s to 1930s, but New Criticism was a formalist movement in literary

theory that dominated American literary criticism in the first half of the

20th century.

What is the Difference Between Russian Formalism and New

Criticism?

The main difference between Russian Formalism and New Criticism is

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, but New Criticism believed that both form and

content are closely connected and equally important.

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.

What is Russian Formalism

Russian formalism is a literary scholarship that originated in Russia in

1915. This formalism focused on ‘form’ of literary work, instead of on

content, studying formal devices like rhythm, rhyme, meter, syntax,

and narrative technique.

Furthermore, Russian formalism involved highly influential Russian

scholars like Yuri Tynianov, Viktor Shklovsky, Vladimir Propp, Boris

Eichenbaum, Boris Tomashevsky, Grigory Gukovsky, and Roman

Jakobson. These scholars advocated a scientific method to study poetic

language, declaring that it is distinctive from ordinary language. They

called it ‘literariness’. In other words, they believed that how something

is said is more important than what is said. Therefore, Russian

formalists studied literary work to focus on literary devices and

technical elements used by writers. Accordingly, “literary works, …

resemble machines: they are the result of an intentional human activity

in which a specific skill transforms raw material into a complex

mechanism suitable for a particular purpose” (Peter B. Steiner).

In 1916, Victor Shklovsky introduced the concept of defamiliarization,

which means making it strange. Defamiliarization of that which has

become familiar is the basic use of literary language. In other words,

literature has the ability to make us see the world from a new

perspective.

What is New Criticism

New criticism is a formalist movement in literary theory that originated

in the first half of the 20th century. In new criticism, the texts are

considered to be ‘closed’ and autonomous, meaning that everything

you need to understand a work of literature is present within it.

Therefore, readers do not need outside sources like details about the

author to fully understand literary work. In fact, new criticism was a

reaction towards biographical and traditional historical criticism, which

focused on extra-text materials to analyze a text.

According to New Critics, the structure and meaning of the text are

closely connected and can not be analyzed separately. Since their

main focus is on the text itself, they exclude factors like the author’s

intention, readers’ response, moralistic bias and historical and

cultural contexts form the analysis. Moreover, they considered close

reading as a good way to interact with a text. Moreover, Robert Penn

Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Allan Tate, Cleanth Brooks, and William

Empson are some important scholars in this formalist movement.

Similarities Between Russian Formalism and New Criticism: -

 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 movement, the text itself is more important;

it is studied independently of the author’s intention and historical

and cultural context.

 Moreover, both these schools of thought mainly focus on poetry.

Conclusion: -

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.