Formalism

Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to
do with structural purposes of a particular text. It is the study of a text without

taking into account any outside influence. Formalism rejects (or sometimes
simply "brackets," i.e., ignores for the purpose of analysis) notions of culture or
societal influence, authorship, and content, and instead focuses on modes,
genres, discourse, and forms.
In literary theory
In literary theory, formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze,
interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text. These features include not
only grammar and syntax but also literary devices such as meter and tropes.
The formalist approach reduces the importance of a texts historical,
biographical, and cultural context.
Formalism rose to prominence in the early twentieth century as a reaction
against Romanticist theories of literature, which centered on the artist and
individual creative genius, and instead placed the text itself back into the
spotlight to show how the text was indebted to forms and other works that had
preceded it. Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed, Russian
formalism, and soon after Anglo-American New Criticism. Formalism was the
dominant mode of academic literary study in the US at least from the end of
the Second World War through the 1970s, especially as embodied in Ren
Wellek and Austin Warren's Theory of Literature (1948, 1955, 1962).
Beginning in the late 1970s, formalism was substantially displaced by various
approaches (often with political aims or assumptions) that were suspicious of
the idea that a literary work could be separated from its origins or uses. The
term has often had a pejorative cast and has been used by opponents to
indicate either aridity or ideological deviance. Some recent trends in academic
literary criticism suggest that formalism may be making a comeback.
{Formalism and its Malcontents: Benjamin and de Man on the Function of
Allegory, Jim Hansen, New Literary History, 2004, Vol. 35, No. 4, 663.
Pedagogy
William H. Thelin criticizes Maxine Hairstons approach to teaching composition
from a current-traditional standpoint, which she then mixes with the political.
He claims that No matter how sound the politics the student would have no
choice but to regurgitate that dogma in the clearest terms possible and to shift
concentration onto matters of structure and correctness.
Mary Ann Cain writes that formalism asserts that the text stands on its own
as a complete entity, apart from the writer who produced it. Moreover, Cain
says that one can regard textual products as teachable and still maintain that
being a writer is a "natural" act, one not subject to instruction. Composition,
like creative writing, has flourished under the assumption that students are
already writers, or have the capacity to learn-and that everyone should be
writers. Yet the questions composition tends to pose within this assumption are
not so much about which aspects of writing can or cannot be taught, but how
writing can be taught and under what conditions. In regards to formalist
composition, one must ask, to what extent is this need for academic
discourse real any more than the need for more imaginative writing is realexcept to perform some function, to get something done?.
Research
Formalism research involves studying the ways in which students present their
writing. Some ways formalism research is conducted involves allowing the text
to speak to the readers versus cutting out unintended meaning in a written
piece. Respectively, these two methods deal with language as the master
writer versus a teacher as the master writer.
Defining Formalist Criticism
Focus on formal elements such as language, structure, and tone

Bases its inquiry on the work itself, the text
Background
This model of criticism began in the early 20th century in reaction to

Romanticist theories of literature
Rose to prominence in America from after World War II through the
1970s
Embodied by the Theory of Literature by Ren Wellek and Austin Warren
Other major Formalist critics were I.A. Richards and John Crowe
Ransom
Russian Formalism
Created scientific examination of literature

Includes elements of linguistics
Excludes other external conditions
Because literature is not regular communicative language, so outside

conditions are not applicable
New Criticism Literature
Founded by John Crowe Ransom in his book The New Criticism

is an aesthetic object Poems, novels, and stories are works of art that
themselves deserve merit
These works of art are separate from their surroundings and should
warrant close reading
Examples
Oedipus
"Those eyes of yours, which now can see so clearly, will be dark."
- Teiresias This quote from Oedipus is an example of irony in its use of

mentioning sight and brightness from a blind prophet to a figuratively blind
king
- The text also provides foreshadowing to the end of the play where Oedipus will
turn blind alongside the fulfillment of the prophecy
Slaughterhouse-Five
" walk through a door in 1955 and come out another one in 1941"
- In the novel, Vonnegut uses a specific structure choice of quick succinct

paragraphs that do not follow a direct storyline but instead jump backward and
forward
- This structure serves to mirror the Tralfamadorian belief that one can
experience all moments at a given time because time is not linear
Disadvantages
Formalist criticism fell out of prominence in the 1970s

This was mainly due to many complaints that it viewed texts in isolation
and ignored the context of the novel along with allusions
Some even argued that Formalist criticism reduced literature to nothing
more than a collection of rhetorical devices
The Tragedy of Hamlet
Formalist critics praising the work on its character development and use
of literary devices
Also felt that Hamlet failed to adhere by the strict rules of classical
drama in structure and plot

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What are some of the main principles of formalist criticism?

What are some examples of how formalist criticism has been applied?

Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to

do with structural purposes of a particular text. It is the study of a text without

Defining Formalist Criticism

Focus on formal elements such as language, structure, and tone

This model of criticism began in the early 20th century in reaction to

Created scientific examination of literature

Because literature is not regular communicative language, so outside

Founded by John Crowe Ransom in his book The New Criticism

- Teiresias This quote from Oedipus is an example of irony in its use of

- In the novel, Vonnegut uses a specific structure choice of quick succinct

Formalist criticism fell out of prominence in the 1970s

The Tragedy of Hamlet

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