Russian-Formalism

•RussianFormalismHistory•1915TheMoscowLinguisticCirclefounded•1916ThePetrograd“SocietyfortheStudyofPoeticLanguage”(Opojaz)foundedHistory•1929-1930censuredbyStalinfor“unduepreoccupationwith‘mere’form,bourgeois‘escapism,’andlikeoffenses.”(Note,thetermformalistwasinitiallyappliedpejoratively.)•1930sThePragueLinguisticCircle(RenéWellek,RomanJakobson)•1960sInfluencedAnglo-AmericanNewCriticismandFrenchStructuralism.BorisEichenbaum•1886-1959•“TheFormalMethod,”1926(1)Thedesireforascienceor‘poetics’ofliterature•“Theso-called‘formalmethod’grewoutofastruggleforascienceofliteraturethatwouldbebothindependentandfactual...”(Norton1062).(2)“Literariness”asprimaryobjectofstudy•“Literariness”:whatmakesagivenworkaliterarywork;whatdistinguishesliterarystudyfromotherdisciplines,suchaspsychology,politics,andphilosophy.(Eichenbaum7)(2)“Literariness”asprimaryobjectofstudy(continued)•TheFormalistsreadliterarytextsinordertodiscovertheir“literariness”—tohighlightthedevicesandtechnicalelementsintroducedbywritersinordertomakelanguageliterary.(Selden38)(3)Theautonomyofform•RomanJakobson(1896-1982)•Distinguishedbetween“poetic”languageand“practical”language–Practicallanguage:Languageresources(sounds,morphologicalsegment,andsoforth)aremerelyameansofcommunication.–Poeticlanguage:languageresourceshaveautomaticvalue.((Eichenbaum7-8).•Identifiedliteratureasaverbalart;focusedonthedescriptionofcertain“dominant”linguisticforms.(4)Formaimstodefamiliarize.•VictorShklovsky(1893-1984)•“ArtasTechnique”(1916)•Defamiliarization:or“makeitstrange”.“Artisconceivedasawayofbreakingdownautomatisminperception”((Eichenbaum10).(5)Thepalpablenessofform•Focuseson“motivation,”orthefunctionalroleofliterarydevices.•Tendstohighlight“artwhichisnotfullymotivatedorwhichdeliberatelytearsawaymotivation,”namely,layingbareitsdevice,suchasLaurenceSterne’sTristramShandy.It’samomentofthenarrativeself-reflexiveness(Eichenbaum11-12).Baringthedevice:Example1•LaurenceSterne’sTristramShandy•“Sternemockstheartificialformulaofthepicaresquenovelwhichtriestotracethepicaro’slife‘frombirthtodeath’.Hehighlightsthisconventionbyexaggeration:westartwiththeprecisemomentofTristram’sconception—hisfather’sinterruptedejaculation!”(Selden38)•“Sterneparodiesthenovel’susualsequentialpatternofchaptersandpreliminariesbytransposingchapters,leavingoneblank(tobefilledinbythereader),andplacingdedicationandprefaceinthemiddleofthebook.”(Selden38)Baringthedevice:Example2(1)•JorgeLuisBorges’“Averroes’Search”•“BorgesrecountsthestoryofAverroes,theArabphilosopherlivinginSpaininthesecondhalfofthetwelfthcentury....BorgesposesthequestionofwhyAverroes,whohaddedicatedhislifetounderstandingtheworkofAristotle,hadsobadlymisunderstoodtheconceptoftragedytreatedbytheGreekphilosopher.Toanswerthisquestion,Borges...employsthefacultyofhistoricalimaginationinordertothinkhimselfbackintoAverroes'sparticulartimeperiodandculturalcontext.”(JonStewart,)•Theprocessofwritingthestoryismeanttoparalleltheeventsinthestoryitself;Borges'attempttounderstandAverroësisasfutileasAverroës'attempttounderstandplays.()Baringthedevice:Example2(2)•JorgeLuisBorges’“Averroes’Search”•Amomentofthenarrativeself–reflexiveness:attheendthestorythenarratorstates,Ifeltthattheworkwasmockingme.IfeltthatAverroes,wantingtoimaginewhatadramaiswithouteverhavingsuspectedwhatatheateris,wasnomoreabsurdthanI,wantingtoimagineAverroesyetwithnoothersourcesthanafewfragmentsfromRenan,Lane,andAsinPalacios.”(155)(6)Plot(sjuzet)vs.Story(fabula)•Story:chronologicalevents;markedbyreal-lifemotivations•Plot:theartisticarrangementofevents.Anartistoften“holdsbacktheactionofanovel...bytransposingtheorderoftheparts”(Eichenbaum12).(7)thedialogicnatureofFormalismitself•Inhisdefenseoftheprimacyofform,Shklovskyexplainedthatanewformappearsnotinordertoexpressanewcontent,butinordertoreplaceanoldform,whichhasalreadylostitsartisticvalue.•(Norton1040)and(8)LiteraryEvolution•Literaryhistory=anevolutionaryaccretionofinnovativedevices(Norton1060)•Eikhenbaumconcludedthatwhenwehaveatheorythatexplainseverything,aready-madetheoryexplainingallpastandfutureeventsandthereforeneedingneitherevolutionnoranythinglikeit--thenwemustrecognizethattheformalmethodhascometoanend(Norton1087).Preferences:•Inventiveness•Aestheticsophistication•Asearchfornewmodesofexpression(Erlich1101)GroupActivity•Identifythe“literariness”ofthefollowingpoems.(Dosobyobservinghowthepoet“makeitstrange”foryou.)AMartianSendsaPostcardHomeCraigRaineCaxtonsaremechanicalbirdswithmanywings—andsomearetreasuredfortheirmarkings—theycausetheeyestomeltorthebodytoshriekwithoutpain.Ihaveneverseenonefly,butsometimestheyperchonthehand.Mistiswhentheskyistiredofflightandrestsitssoftmachineonground:thentheworldisdimandbookishlikeengravingundertissuepaper.Rainiswheretheearthistelevision.Ithasthepropertyofmakingcoloursdarker.ModelTisaroomwiththelockinsice–a