Formalism Formalism a school of literary criticism
Description: Formalism Formalism a school of literary criticism and literary theory emerged in the early twentieth century as a reaction against Marxist literary theory which beliefs in the roles of society in the text and the text in society.
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slide1. Formalism<br>
slide2. Formalism a school of literary criticism and literary theory emerged in the early twentieth century as a reaction against Marxist literary theory which beliefs in the roles of society in the text and the text in society.<br>
slide3. Formalists basic ideas 1- Formalists criticism works on the practical dimension of art, they focus on form “how things are done” more than “what it is about “, since form is what tells stories or make meanings. i.e. the moves of dances form the story of dance.
2- They have to do with the structural purposes of a particular text; the study of a text without taking into account any outside influence. Formalism rejects notions of culture or societal influence, authorship, and content, and instead focuses on modes, genres, discourse, and forms.
3- Classifying works into genres according to their formal attributes.<br>
slide4. Formalists basic ideas 4- Advocating methodical and systematic reading of texts ; making literary criticism a science.
5- Literature is autonomous from external conditions in the sense that literary language is distinct from ordinary uses of language.
6- Since literature is made of language, linguistics will be a foundational element of the science of literature.<br>
slide5. Schools of Formalism Schools of Formalism Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed;
Russian formalism, and soon after
Anglo-American New Criticism.
Both schools developed in different times and places, however shared certain literary assumptions.<br>
slide6. Russian Formalism Originated in Russia around 1915, it is well-known for its emphasis on the functional role of literary devices that distinguish literary language from ordinary language, or “art from non-art”. It asserts that:
1- The language of literature should be studied in and of itself, without reference to meaning , by analysing the literary techniques that distinguish literary forms and classify it into genres. (focus on form)
2- invented a scientific method for studying poetic language excluding the traditional psychological and cultural-historical approaches (shift from moral approach "Marxism” to scientific approach).<br>
slide7. Russian Formalism 3- literary texts make use of language in such a way that it becomes strange and unfamiliar in a given context. (defamiliarization).
* defamiliarization: the most important concept of the school that : instead of seeing literature as a 'reflection' of the world, they saw it as 'making strange'. A formalist approach of a text enables the reader to undertake an attentive close reading by which the reader become “expert” into interpretive theory.<br>
slide8. New criticism American school of literary criticism , flourished in USA by the late 1930s argued that :
1- Literary study should focus on the text and the reader should “enter” the text in order to get the meaning regardless the external factors like history, psychology, or sociology.(Intrinsic Approach)
2- The goal was to describe the unity of the work ; literary texts were seen as works unified by their devices, motifs, themes, and patterns. (organic unity “form+ content”)<br>
slide9. New Criticism 3- Meaning in the text not in the reader’s emotional reaction (affective fallacy)
4- The text can be appreciated without turning to the author intention (intentional fallacy)
5- give liberty to literature; “Art for art’s sake” not as a political, cultural or social tool. (liberalism)
(These principles lead to objective and “close reading”)<br>
slide10. Major terms Form/Content
Form: how a work of art is done or made, the techniques and procedures that an artist uses to construct a story or convey an idea.
content: what a work of art is about.
Technique
Devices and procedures: the way of doing something such as constructing a character.
Perspective /Point of view: the position from which a narration operates, i.e. the view from which people are portrayed.<br>
slide11. Major terms Narration /Story
narration or fabula: the series of events that are represented in a novel or a film, it comes in non-chronological order. The events can be artistically arranged by devices such as repetition and parallelism. Story: a sequence of events represented in much longer time.
Motif : a recurring element of a narration such as a particular event or symbol used repeatedly.
Function: shared pattern among narratives. For example, all folk-tales have the common function "the hero leaves home.
Genre: a group of artistic works that shared certain features, rules or conventions.<br>
slide12. Major terms Discourse : a coherent body of statements about something such as an event or an issue. They follow rules to produce unity and consistency across different statements. For example, the discourse on race.
Hypotaxis and Parataxis: terms that describe the ways in which relationship between successive ideas are expressed. In parataxis, the ideas are expressed in simple phrases linked by conjunction and or but, whereas in hypotaxis the ideas are expressed in subordinate clauses joined by relational links such as after and when.
Poetic Meter: metric poetry uses different rhythms (stressed and unstressed syllables) and different numbers of feet's (i.e. trimester or hexameter).<br>
slide13. Difference between Russian formalism and New criticism Russian Formalism: focus on the practical dimension of the work by studying the literary devices employed in the text so the form is more important than content.
New Criticism: focus on the internal unity of the work, form and content are inseparable since form is embodiment of content or theme<br>
slide14. Formal analysis of poetry/poetics The formal study of a poem begins with simple description of the work like describing theme, setting, narrator, rhyme scheme, repetition, metaphors and symbols.
In addition, it analyses the rhetorical form of the work such as paradox and irony<br>
slide15. Glossary of major Formalist literary terms Character : creation and representation of fictional persons and entities, like antagonist, protagonist.
Figures of speech: various expressive devices used in writing, like analogy, irony.
Imagery: specific details used to describe characters, situations, things, ideas, or events, like hearing, seeing.
Plot: a series of events or happenings that organize a text, like climax, conflict.
Point of view: perspective of the controlling narrative voice, like subjective, reliable.
Setting: atmosphere, historical period, physical setting, or mood of text, like place, time.
Theme: a major idea or message in the text, like controlling idea.<br>
slide16. Conclusion Formalists are criticized for narrow-mindedness which restricts to the form and the language of the text.
However, formalism terminology forms the basis for most literary education and critical approaches to reading and analysing literature.<br>
slide2. Formalism a school of literary criticism and literary theory emerged in the early twentieth century as a reaction against Marxist literary theory which beliefs in the roles of society in the text and the text in society.<br>
slide3. Formalists basic ideas 1- Formalists criticism works on the practical dimension of art, they focus on form “how things are done” more than “what it is about “, since form is what tells stories or make meanings. i.e. the moves of dances form the story of dance.
2- They have to do with the structural purposes of a particular text; the study of a text without taking into account any outside influence. Formalism rejects notions of culture or societal influence, authorship, and content, and instead focuses on modes, genres, discourse, and forms.
3- Classifying works into genres according to their formal attributes.<br>
slide4. Formalists basic ideas 4- Advocating methodical and systematic reading of texts ; making literary criticism a science.
5- Literature is autonomous from external conditions in the sense that literary language is distinct from ordinary uses of language.
6- Since literature is made of language, linguistics will be a foundational element of the science of literature.<br>
slide5. Schools of Formalism Schools of Formalism Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed;
Russian formalism, and soon after
Anglo-American New Criticism.
Both schools developed in different times and places, however shared certain literary assumptions.<br>
slide6. Russian Formalism Originated in Russia around 1915, it is well-known for its emphasis on the functional role of literary devices that distinguish literary language from ordinary language, or “art from non-art”. It asserts that:
1- The language of literature should be studied in and of itself, without reference to meaning , by analysing the literary techniques that distinguish literary forms and classify it into genres. (focus on form)
2- invented a scientific method for studying poetic language excluding the traditional psychological and cultural-historical approaches (shift from moral approach "Marxism” to scientific approach).<br>
slide7. Russian Formalism 3- literary texts make use of language in such a way that it becomes strange and unfamiliar in a given context. (defamiliarization).
* defamiliarization: the most important concept of the school that : instead of seeing literature as a 'reflection' of the world, they saw it as 'making strange'. A formalist approach of a text enables the reader to undertake an attentive close reading by which the reader become “expert” into interpretive theory.<br>
slide8. New criticism American school of literary criticism , flourished in USA by the late 1930s argued that :
1- Literary study should focus on the text and the reader should “enter” the text in order to get the meaning regardless the external factors like history, psychology, or sociology.(Intrinsic Approach)
2- The goal was to describe the unity of the work ; literary texts were seen as works unified by their devices, motifs, themes, and patterns. (organic unity “form+ content”)<br>
slide9. New Criticism 3- Meaning in the text not in the reader’s emotional reaction (affective fallacy)
4- The text can be appreciated without turning to the author intention (intentional fallacy)
5- give liberty to literature; “Art for art’s sake” not as a political, cultural or social tool. (liberalism)
(These principles lead to objective and “close reading”)<br>
slide10. Major terms Form/Content
Form: how a work of art is done or made, the techniques and procedures that an artist uses to construct a story or convey an idea.
content: what a work of art is about.
Technique
Devices and procedures: the way of doing something such as constructing a character.
Perspective /Point of view: the position from which a narration operates, i.e. the view from which people are portrayed.<br>
slide11. Major terms Narration /Story
narration or fabula: the series of events that are represented in a novel or a film, it comes in non-chronological order. The events can be artistically arranged by devices such as repetition and parallelism. Story: a sequence of events represented in much longer time.
Motif : a recurring element of a narration such as a particular event or symbol used repeatedly.
Function: shared pattern among narratives. For example, all folk-tales have the common function "the hero leaves home.
Genre: a group of artistic works that shared certain features, rules or conventions.<br>
slide12. Major terms Discourse : a coherent body of statements about something such as an event or an issue. They follow rules to produce unity and consistency across different statements. For example, the discourse on race.
Hypotaxis and Parataxis: terms that describe the ways in which relationship between successive ideas are expressed. In parataxis, the ideas are expressed in simple phrases linked by conjunction and or but, whereas in hypotaxis the ideas are expressed in subordinate clauses joined by relational links such as after and when.
Poetic Meter: metric poetry uses different rhythms (stressed and unstressed syllables) and different numbers of feet's (i.e. trimester or hexameter).<br>
slide13. Difference between Russian formalism and New criticism Russian Formalism: focus on the practical dimension of the work by studying the literary devices employed in the text so the form is more important than content.
New Criticism: focus on the internal unity of the work, form and content are inseparable since form is embodiment of content or theme<br>
slide14. Formal analysis of poetry/poetics The formal study of a poem begins with simple description of the work like describing theme, setting, narrator, rhyme scheme, repetition, metaphors and symbols.
In addition, it analyses the rhetorical form of the work such as paradox and irony<br>
slide15. Glossary of major Formalist literary terms Character : creation and representation of fictional persons and entities, like antagonist, protagonist.
Figures of speech: various expressive devices used in writing, like analogy, irony.
Imagery: specific details used to describe characters, situations, things, ideas, or events, like hearing, seeing.
Plot: a series of events or happenings that organize a text, like climax, conflict.
Point of view: perspective of the controlling narrative voice, like subjective, reliable.
Setting: atmosphere, historical period, physical setting, or mood of text, like place, time.
Theme: a major idea or message in the text, like controlling idea.<br>
slide16. Conclusion Formalists are criticized for narrow-mindedness which restricts to the form and the language of the text.
However, formalism terminology forms the basis for most literary education and critical approaches to reading and analysing literature.<br>