For

mal
ism def
ini
ti
on
For mali
smi satheor et
icalposi
tionthatfavour sform overthet hemat i
cconcer nswithin
at extoritsr el
ationshi
pwi ththewor l
dout side.Thef ormalis
t sar guedt hatthestudyof
l
iteratures houldbeexcl usi
velyaboutform,t echni que,andliter arydeviceswi t
hina
wor kofliterature.Formalismisknownf orexcl udingors i
deliningf actorssuchas
aut hori
alintent,andt heculturalandsociopoliti
calbackgr oundofat extfrom i
tsstudy.
It
spr eferencef orform,li
nguisti
celement s,andl i
terarydevicesgi vesthisschoolof
l
iterarytheor yitsname.

Formal
ismisanumbrel
lat
ermfordi
ffer
enttheori
esandideasproposedbys chol
ars
andcri
ti
cs.Themai
nideainf
ormali
smisthatthemostimportantaspectofawor ki
sit
s
for
m.

Formal i
stli
terarytheoryiscloselyas sociatedwithstruct
ur ali
sm,anotherschoolof
l
iterarycri
tici
smt hatwaspopul ardur ingt hetwenti
ethcent ury.St
ruct
urali
sm and
formalism werebot hinfl
uencedbyt het heor yofl
anguagepr oposedbyt heSwiss
l
inguistFerdinanddeSaus sure,andhavemanyover l
appi ngt hemesandconcer ns
.
Saus s
ure'stheoryofs emioti
csdes cr
ibesl anguageasas ystem ofsi
gnsthataccrue
meani ngar bi
trari
lythroughs ocialconvent i
on.

St
ruct
ural
ism

Str
uct urali
smi sabr anchofl
inguisti
csthatplacesi
mpor t
anceonthes hapeofthe
narrativeandi gnoresthesocialandhi st
ori
calreal
iti
est
hatshapeit.St
ructur
ali
smi s
als
oas oci
ologicalandanthr
opol ogicalapproachthats
tudi
estext
si nter
msoft he
contras tsandoppos it
ionswi
thin.

Somefor
malis
tcri
ticsandthei
rworksdef
yst
rictcat
egor
izat
ionast
heyar
eimpor
tant
tobot
hformali
sm andstr
uctur
ali
sm.

Hi
stor
yofFor
mal
ism Li
ter
aryTheor
y

Formal i
sm devel
opedindiff
erentpart
softheworldindependentl
yandwasnevera
unifi
edmovementwi thasetofdefi
nedgoalsforartandli
terar
ycrit
ici
sm.For
mali
sm
fi
rstemer gedinpart
sofEas t
ernEurope(mai
nlyRus s
iaandPoland)intheearl
y
twentiethcentur
y.I
nRus s
ia,itwascentr
edaroundMos cow andSt.Peter
sber
g.

Formal i
sm alsodevelopeds eparatelyi
nPolandwi ththewor ksofKazimi er
zWóyci cki
(1876-1938)whoi sconsider
edt obet hefounderofPolis
hf ormali
sm.Unl i
keRus sian
formal i
sm,theformalis
tmovementi nPolanddi dnotsoli
difyint
oanor gani sat
ionunt i
l
the1 930s.ThePolis
hFor malistSchoolwases t
ablis
hedbyManf redKridl(1882–1957)
andhadcent resinWar saw andWi lno.Pol
ishformali
sm washeavi lyi
nfluencedby
Rus s
ianf ormali
sm.Perhapst hemos twell-
knownt ypesoff or
mal i
smtodayar eRus s
ian
f
ormal
ism andNew Cr
iti
cis
m.We'
l
ltal
kaboutt
hes
eindet
ailbel
ow!

For
mal
ism Li
ter
aryTheor
y:maj
ort
ypes
Duetothei
rinf
luence,t
hest
udyoff or
mal
ism nowadayst
endst
obemor
efocus
edon
Rus
sianfor
malism andNew Cr
iti
cis
m.

Rus
sianFor
mal
ism
Russi
anf ormali
s misas choolofli
teraryt
heor yandcr i
tici
smt hatf
louris
hedinRus si
a
around1 91
5.Itemer gedinoppos i
tiontoabs t
ractli
terarytheori
eswi t
ht hegoalto
developas ci
entif
icbasisforthes t
udyofliter
ature,especiall
ypoetry.Thetwomaj or
schoolsofRussianformalism ar
et heMos cow Linguist
icCircl
e,andtheSocietyforthe
StudyofPoeticLanguage( abbreviat
edasOPOJAZi nRus si
an).

TheMos cow Linguist

icCircl
ewasf ormedi n1 915andi sconsi
deredt obethestarti
ng
pointoffor
mal i
sm.Pr ominenttheoris
tslikeRomanJakobs on,Os i
pBr i
k,andBor i
s
Tomas hevskywer emember softhi
sgr oup.TheSociet yfort
heSt udyofPoetic
Language( OPOJAZ)wasf oundedi n1916.VictorShklovsky(1893-1
984),Bori
s
Ei
chenbaum ( 1
886- 1
959),andYur iTynyanov( 1
894-1943)wereamongt heleading
fi
guresofthisgroup.

ThedevelopmentofRussianf
ormal i
sml argel
ycoincidedwithat i
meofpolit
ical
upheavalsi
nRussia.Manyofthet heori
stsofthismovementhadt of
leefr
om theSoviet
regimeandsomeoft hei
rimportantwor kswerewr i
tteninexil
e.ThePragueLingui
sti
c
Circl
ewasfoundedin1926byexpat ri
ateRus si
anformalist
sinPraguealongwi t
hCzech
l
iterarys
chol
arsl
ikeRenéWel l
ekandJanMukař ovský.

Her
ear
eaf
ew i
mpor
tantRus
sianf
ormal
ist
stor
emember
:

Vi
ctorShkl
ovs
ky(
1893–1
984)

Shklovskywasaf oundingmemberoft heSocietyf ortheSt udyofPoeti

cLanguage,one
ofthetwos chool sofRus s
ianFor mal i
sm.Hismos timpor tantworksincl
udet heconcept
ofdefami li
arizati
onandhi sdiscussionofplot/storyi nli
teratur
e.I
nhises s
ay" Artas
Technique"( 1917),Shkolvskyintroduced" defamiliarizat
ion",aconceptthatbecamea
cornerstoneinf ormalistli
terarytheory.Hei salsoknownf orhi
sideasonpl ot/
story.I
tis
commonf orust ousethet ermspl otands toryinter changeablybuttheformal i
stsmade
animpor t
antdi sti
ncti
onbet weent hetwo.We' lltalkmor eaboutt hesei
ndet ailbelow!

Bor
isEi
chenbaum (
1886–1
959)
Eichenbaum s oughttoli
beratelit
eratur ef
rom allpol
iti
calandi deologi
calas soci
ati
ons.
Hedef inedformalis
m asanef forttocr eat
ean" independents cienceofli
terature"t
hat
focusesonlyont helit
erarymat eri
al.Theformal i
stsals
oar guedt hattheli
terary
tradit
iontobes eparatefrom otheras pectsofsociet
y.Eichenbaum ar guedt hatpoetr
y
hadal anguagethatdisrupt
edt heor dinaryverbalassociati
onsofever ydayl i
fe.

RomanJakobs
on(
1896–1
982)

Jakobs onwasoneoft hemember soft heMos cow Linguist

icCi
rcl
ealongwi t
hVi ktor
Shkl ovskyandBor i
sEichenbaum In1926,hees t
ablis
hedt hePragueLinguist
icCircle
whi chlaidthefoundationforst
ructurali
sm.In1943,hef l
edNazioccupationandco-
foundedt heLi
nguisti
cCircl
eofNew Yor kinAmer i
ca.Hi smostimportantcontri
bution
tofor malismistheconceptofli
terari
ness,whichdistingui
shedthepoeticorli
terary
languagef r
om normaldiscour
se."Discours
e":anyver balexchange,communi cati
on,or
discus s
ion.

New Cr
iti
cis
m
New Cr i
ti
cis
m wasabr anchoff
ormalis
mt hatdevel
opedi
nAmerica.Li
keRus
sian
for
mal i
sm,t hedi
sti
nct
ivenes
sofli
ter
arylanguagewasacent
ralconcernf
orNew
Cri
tici
sm.

New Crit
icis
mi sas t
yleofcri
ti
cismt hatdevelopedinacademicci r
clesmai nl
yinthe
anglophonewor ldduringtheearlytwentiethcentur
y.New Cri
ticism al
sos haredthe
for
mal i
stbelieft
hatthelit
erarytextisautonomousandal lext
er nalcontextual
i
nformat i
onisirr
elevanttoit
ss t
udy.

Whi leRus si
anf ormalisms oughtt ofindabas isf orrati
onalands ci
entif
icpr inci plesof
l
iterarycr i
tici
s m,New Cr iti
cismi nAmer icawasal sointerestedintheaes thet ic,non-
rationalas pect sofart.Alongwi thpoetsT.S.Eli
otandEzr aPound,t heEngl i
s hl it
er ar
y
cri
ticandeducat or,I.
A.Richar dsbecameani nf luenti
alfigureinNew Cr i
ticism.I nhi s
wor ks,Richar dstriedtodel ineateas ystematicmet hodofr eadinglit
eratur e.Hi sbooks
PrinciplesofLi ter
ar yCrit
icism( 1924)andPr acticalCrit
icism( 1
929)alongwi thWi ll
iam
Emps on'sSevenTypesofAmbi guit
y( 1
930)helpeddevel opt heNew Cr i
ticmet hodof
i
nves tigati
ngl i
teraturecalledcl osereading.Clos ereadingi sthepracti
ceofdoi ngani n-
dept hanal ysisofs hortpas sagesors ectionsfrom awor k.Insteadofreadi ngi nt ot he
themes ,cl
os ereadi nginvolvesengagi ngwi tht hetextualcomponent sindet ail.

JohnCroweRansom,Al
lenTate,Cl
eanthBr
ooks,andW.K.Wi
msat
tar
eamongt
he
otherpopul
ars
chol
arsassoci
atedwit
hNew Cri
tici
sm.

For
mal
ism Li
ter
aryTheor
y:mai
nideas
[For
mal i
sm]str
essestheanalysi
softhel
it
eraryworkasas el
f-
suf
fi
cientverbalenti
ty,
consti
tutedbyint
ernalrel
ati
onsandindependentofr
efer
enceeit
hert othestateof
mindoft heaut
horort othe"ext
ernal
"worl
d.

M.
H.Abr
ams
,AGl
oss
aryofLi
ter
aryTer
ms(
1999)

Accordi
ngt otheformali
s t
s,t
hei nter act i
onofl i
terarydevicescreatesanimpr essi
onof
real
it
ywi t
hinat ext
,andt her
efor e,itismor eimpor t
antt ostudythesedevicesrather
thanthesocialreal
it
iestheyrepres ent .Oneoft hemai nideasinformali
stcrit
ici
smi s
thatpoeti
clanguagei sautot
elic.Aut ot eli
c somet hingthatwor ksautonomous ly
andjusti
fi
esitsel
fwithouthavinganext ernalpurpose

Formali
stli
terar
yt heor
yinsis
tedthattheeverydaylanguagewasnoti
ceablydi
fferent
fr
om thelit
erarylanguage.Theyinves
tigateddif
fer
entli
ter
arydevi
cestheybel
ievedto
setthel
iterar
ylanguageapar tfr
om ordinarydi
scourse:

Def
ami
li
ari
zat
ion

Defamiliar
izat
ionisoneofthekeytheori
esoff
or mal
ism,devel
opedbyVict
orShklovsky.
Shklovskydescri
bestheconceptusi
ngtheRussianwor dost
raneni
e,whi
chtrans
lates
as"estr
angement "or"maki
ngs t
range".

Def ami
li
arizat
ionisthetechni
queofdes cr
ibingsomethi
nginastrangemannerthat
all
owsther eadertoperceivei
tinnew ways .Def
amili
ari
zat
ionhelpsuspayat
tenti
onto
commonpl acethingsthatwefailt
onoticebecaus et
heyaretoofamili
art
ous.

For
egr
oundi
ng

Theter
mf or
egroundi
ngi
sborrowedf
rom ar
tcr
iti
cis
m whereiti
susedt
odi
ff
erent
iat
e
thes
tri
kingaspect
sofapai
nti
ngoranimagefr
om itsbackgr
ound.

I
nlit
erat
ure,f
oregroundingi
susedtocallat
tent
iontos
omethingort
omakes omet
hing
st
andout.Foregroundi
nginli
ter
atur
eistomakes omet
hingsopromi
nenti
nthe
narr
ati
vethatitdominatest
hereader'
spercept
ion.

Si
mplyput,f
oregr
oundingisusedtomakesomethi
nghardt
omiss.Writ
ersusel
iter
ary
devi
cess
uchaspar al
lel
ism,al
li
ter
ati
on,met
aphor,ands
oontoachievethi
seff
ect.

Pl
ot/
Stor
y

Vict
orShkolvskymadethepopul
arf
ormal
istdi
sti
nct
ionbet
weenpl
otands
tor
y,al
so
knownass yuzhetandf
abula.

Thestor
y(fabul
a)isthenat
urals
equenceofeventstaki
ngplaceinatext
.Thepl
ot
(s
yuzhet)i
stheorderinwhi
chtheseevent
sarepresentedi
nt hework.
I
tiscommonf orthepl otoffi
cti
onalnar r
ativestodivergefr
om theactualchronologi
cal
sequenceoft hestoryitwantstotellthereader.Sklovskyusedthedist
incti
onbet ween
plotands t
ory,of
tens tyli
zedasplot/s
t or
yors yuzhet/f
abula,t
oemphas izethe
i
mpor tanceofthef or
m— how f arthef orm ofatextsucceedstoexpressthestoryand
theamountofat tentionthereaderhast opayi nordert ounderst
andit.

Li
ter
ari
nes
s

Theformalist
ssaw t hesetechniquesanddevi cesaswor ki
ngt owar dswhatt heycalled
l
iter
ariness
.Thef ormalist
susedt hei deaofliterarinesstodiff
erenti
atet heliterary
l
anguagef rom thepr acti
caluseofl anguage.Wher easthemai nfunctionofor dinary
l
anguagei sforustocommuni catewi t
heachot her ,t
hepur poseoflit
erar ylanguagei s
nottomaker eferencest otheexternalwor ld.Instead,itdrawsat t
entiont oitselfand
theli
nguist
icfeatureswi t
hinit
self.Byt hesamet oken,thef or
malistsbelievedt hatthe
generalrul
esoflinguisti
csdidnotappl ytoli
teraryl anguage.

For
mal
ism Li
ter
aryTheor
y:char
act
eri
sti
cs

 Thekeycharact
eri
sti
coff
ormal
istcr
iti
cis
misanemphas
isonf
orm overt
he
subj
ectmatt
er.

 Thegoaloff
ormal
ism wastocreat
eas ci
enti
fi
cwayofreadi
ngandi
nter
pret
ing
l
it
erat
urebasedonli
nguis
ticcomponentsandli
ter
aryt
echni
ques
.

 Formali
sm out
linedadis
tinct
ionbet
weenl
it
erar
ylanguageandt
hel
anguageof
everydayi
nteracti
on.

 Si
milar
ly,f
ormali
stsat
temptedtoestabl
isht
hatl
it
erat
urei
sdet
achedf
rom
materi
alhist
oryandsoci
alcont
ext.

 Theformali
stsbel
ieveditwasequal
lyormorei
mpor
tantt
ofocusont
he
st
ructur
alcomponent sofaworkofl
iter
atur
e.

 Thefor
malistl
it
erarytheor
ist
splacedimpor
tanceonhow l
anguageoper
ates
wit
hinatextir
respect
iveofauthorshi
pandcontent
.

Thef ormali
stswerecr i
ti
cizedfortheirdeni
aloft
her el
ati
onshipbet
weenartandit
s
socialandeconomi cinfl
uences .Thi
sisrefl
ect
edinthetheori
esthatgai
nedpopul
arit
y
afterformali
sms uchasMar xi
sm,ps ychoanal
ysi
s,andfemini
sm,whicharer
ootedin
psychos oci
alst
ruggles.

For
mal
ism Li
ter
aryTheor
y:exampl
es

Hereareafew gr
eatexampl
est
ohel
pyouunder
standhow t
hes
edevi
ceswor
kin
l
it
eratur
e!
Def
ami
li
ari
zat
ionexampl
e

Tounder
standdefamil
iari
zati
oninpract
ice,let
'sl
ookatt
hedes
cri
pti
onofanar
row
bei
ngshotinWil
li
am Golding'
sTheInher
itors(1
955):

Themanhadwhi tebonet hingsabovehi seyesandundert hemout hs othathi

sface
waslongert hanaf aceshoul dbe.Themant ur
neds i
dewaysint hebus hesandlooked
atLokal onghiss houlder
.As ti
ckroseuprightandt herewasal umpofbonei nthe
middle.Lokpeer edatt hes t
ickandt helumpofboneandt hesmal leyesinthebone
thi
ngsovert heface.Suddenl yLokunder stoodt hatt
hemanwashol dingthesti
ckout
tohim butneitherhenorLokcoul dreachacr osstheriver
.Hewoul dhavel aughedi fi
t
werenotf ortheechooft hes creaminginhi shead.Thes t
ickbegant ogrow shorterat
bothends .Thenits hotouttof ulll
engthagai n.

Wi
ll
iam Gol
ding,TheI
nher
itor
s,p.
106

For
egr
oundi
ngexampl
e

Charl
esDi
ckensus
espar
all
eli
smtohi
ghli
ghtandforegr
oundthebook'
sthemei
nthe
openi
ngli
nesofATal
eofTwoCit
ies(
1859):"
Itwast
hebestofti
mes,i
twasthewors
tof
ti
mes."

Pl
ot/
Stor
yexampl
e

Inthenovel
laChronicl
eofaDeat hForetol
d( 1
983)
,Gabri
elGarcí
aMár quezus
esa
convol
utedplottodescri
betheeventsleadinguptothemurderofSanti
agoNasar
whichhasalreadytakenplace.