Russian Formalism: The Art of Literary Structure

Russian Formalism: The Art of Literary Structure

We are going to start a new series after a long time…

I have been focusing on history for a long time, from Rome to the Ottoman Empire, and from Ancient Egypt... Now, we come back to literature. In my Theory and Criticism of Literature class, we will study a variety of theories, including Russian Formalism, New Criticism, Archetypal Criticism, Reader-Response Criticism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism and Deconstruction, Postmodernism, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Feminist Criticism, Marxist Criticism, New Historicism, and Cultural Materialism. These theories are not only related to literature, they are also related to psychology, philosophy, history, and more. In this series, we will explore each of these theories in detail.

Literary theory is a set of concepts and ideas used to explain or interpret literary texts. It is sometimes called "critical theory" or "theory" and is now evolving into "cultural theory." Literary theory includes principles from analyzing texts internally or using external knowledge. It is the body of ideas and methods we use to read and understand literature practically.

Literary criticism involves studying, evaluating, and interpreting literary works. While literary theory provides a broader framework for analyzing literature, literary criticism offers readers new ways to understand an author's work. It helps to examine the text, uncovering layers of meaning and providing insights into the author's intentions and the work's impact.

Why do we criticise literary works? What Is the Purpose of Literary Criticism?

Literary criticism aims to improve a reader's understanding of an author's work by summarizing, interpreting, and evaluating its significance. After closely reading the text, a critic creates a detailed analysis that can inform or challenge another reader's perspective. This practice allows readers to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the world through literature.

Russian Formalism emerged in the early 20th century in Russia as a literary theory movement. This theory was developed by a group of literary scholars and linguists seeking new ways to analyse literature. At that time, traditional approaches to literary analysis focused on content and meaning, primarily emphasizing what literary works conveyed. However, the Russian Formalists aimed to change this perspective.

W

hen you write a story, how you tell that story is very important. Russian Formalists were interested not only in what a story says but also in how it is told. Just like when you draw a picture, it’s not just the colours that matter, but also how the lines and shapes are made. These people tried to understand the structure of stories. To them, the words, sounds, and rhythm of a story are just as important as the story itself.  That is: Russian Formalism is a literary theory that focuses not just on the content of literary works but on how language and structure are used. Formalists argue that the meaning of a work is determined not by what the author says, but by how they say it. According to this theory, the purpose of literature is to disrupt our usual ways of seeing and make us think in new ways. So, to understand the aesthetic value of a work, we should focus more on its narrative techniques, linguistic play, and formal structure rather than just the plot. In the rest of the article, I will analyse this theory with a literary work. 

• The name of the author is not important.
• The time in which the author lived is not important.
• Any cultural impact on the author’s life is not important.
• The political beliefs of the author are not important.
• The actual reader is not important.

Then, if we comprehend this theory, we may go into detail a bit.

There were two schools of Russian Formalism. The Moscow Linguistic Circle, led by Roman Jakobson, was formed in 1915; this group also included Osip Brik and Boris Tomashevsky. The second group, the Society for the Study of Poetic Language (Opoyaz), was founded in 1916, and its leading figures included Victor Shklovsky, Boris Eichenbaum, and Yuri Tynyanov. Other important critics associated with these movements included Leo Jakubinsky and the folklorist Vladimir Propp. Habib, M. A. R. (2005). A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the present (p. 603). Blackwell Publishing.

In the 1910s, figures like Viktor Shklovsky and Roman Jakobson proposed a new way of examining literature. According to them, literature could not be evaluated solely based on the subject matter, characters, or messages of a work. What was crucial was how the author used language and how the structure of the narrative was shaped. Shklovsky's concept of "defamiliarization" (ostranenie) was central to this movement. He defends that the power of literature lies in presenting ordinary things in unusual and new ways, providing people to see the world differently.

The emergence of this theory was influenced by the belief that literary art could be analysed on a scientific basis. The Russian Formalists believed that literature should be examined through objective methods like science. Therefore, they focused on formal elements such as narrative structures, rhythm, sound, and the structure of language, drawing attention to the formal characteristics of literary works. This perspective marked a significant departure from traditional literary criticism, emphasizing not only the "what" but also the "how" of storytelling.

Shklovsky was a founding member of one of the two schools of Russian Formalism, the Society for the Study of Poetic Language, formed in 1916. His essay “Art as Technique” (1917) was one of the central statements of formalist theory. Like others in his group, he was denounced by Leon Trotsky for his formalist views. Habib, M. A. R. (2005). A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present (p. 603). Blackwell Publishing.

Defamiliarization…

Shklovsky introduces a new concept of Russian Formalism.

Shklovsky indicates that over time, we get so used to the things around us that we stop really noticing them. For instance, you might see a tree every day and get so used to it that you do not pay attention to it anymore. Shklovsky explains this as remembering only a small part of something. That’s why, to truly understand something, we need to look at it in a new way as if we were seeing it for the first time. Then everything seems interesting again. To sum up, defamiliarization is one of the most important things in literature and art. Art and literature help us see the world in a new way. Literature shows us those familiar things again, in a different and interesting way. This way, we look at them carefully again and discover things we did not notice before.

Roman Jakobson played an important role in helping us understand literature and language. Along with Victor Shklovsky, he founded a group in 1916 that studied the language of poetry. This group aimed to teach how to analyse poems and writings. In 1926, Jakobson established another group in Czechoslovakia that focused on studying how language works. Later, he fled from Nazi danger and moved to America in 1941. There, he met another important scholar named Claude Lévi-Strauss, and in 1943, they co-founded a linguistic study group in New York. His ideas became significant first in France and then in America.

The term ‘literariness’ was first introduced by the Russian Formalist Roman Jacobson in 1921. He declared in his work Modern Russian Poetry that ‘the object of literary science is not literature but literariness, i.e. what makes a given work a literary work’ (Das 2005, p. 78).

Literariness is a feature that shows that a book or story is special. This feature separates that book from ordinary texts. For instance, in a song, artists use some special things like rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. That's why these features make a story or book more interesting.

Jakobson states: “Poetry and stories are about the beautiful use of words. Linguistics, on the other hand, is a science that studies how words are structured. Therefore, the art of writing poetry and stories is a part of language.” He also mentions that literary criticism (which involves personal opinions about books) is based on subjective views, whereas literary studies (which focus on carefully examining books) use more accurate information. In other words, to understand books, it’s important to analyse them carefully and focus on the words.

Mikhail Bakhtin is recognized as one of the most important literary thinkers of the 20th century. One of his best-known ideas is about the different and interesting ways language is used. He has some important concepts that explain how novels are written. These concepts include “dialogue,” which is how people talk to each other; “polyphony,” which means hearing different voices from different people in a story; and “carnival,” which refers to times when everyone is having fun and there are different rules. All of these ideas help us understand how people communicate with different languages and voices.

Bakhtin borrows the term "polyphony" from music to describe the different narrative voices in novels. In his book Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics, he illustrates how multiple voices can work together, including the author's voice and the voices of the characters.

Another important term is "heteroglossia," which also refers to "polyphony." Bakhtin discusses this concept in his essay "Discourse in the Novel." This term expresses the idea that there are many different ways of speaking in society.

Additionally, "dialogism" is significant. It explains how meaning is created through the interactions between the writer, the characters in a novel, and the readers. According to Bakhtin, nothing exists meaningfully on its own; everything is understood through its relationships and interactions with other things. In other words, what everyone says to each other is very important.

A Checklist of Formalist Critical Questions

Structure and Organization

• How is the work structured or organized?
• How does it begin, progress, and end?
• What is the work’s plot, and how does the plot relate to its structure?

Characters

• Who are the major and minor characters, and what do they represent?
• What is the relationship of each part of the work to the whole?
• How are the parts related to one another?

Narration:

• Who is narrating or telling the story?
• How is the narrator, speaker, or character revealed to the readers?
• How do we come to know and understand this figure?

Setting

• What are the time and place of the work—its setting?
• How does the setting relate to the characters and their actions?
• To what extent is the setting symbolic?

Language and Imagery

• What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain, or create the literary world?
• Specifically, what images, similes, metaphors, and symbols appear in the work?
•  What is their function, and what meanings do they convey?

These questions can help readers analyse a literary work through a formalist lens, focusing on its structure, characters, narration, setting, and use of language.

Language and Structure

• The language of the sonnet is rich with imagery. It uses elements of summer and nature to discuss the nature of love. The comparison to a summer's day serves as a tool to emphasize the beauty.
• The poem is structured as a Shakespearean sonnet, consisting of 14 lines divided into three quatrains and a final couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEFGG, which is typical for Shakespearean sonnets.

Sound and Rhythm

• The sonnet is written in iambic pentameter. This rhythm creates a sense of fluidity for the reader and enhances its emotional impact.
• Alliteration and assonance within the poem strengthen the emotional tone. For instance, the sound similarity between "more" and "fair" enhances the musicality of the expression.

Defamiliarization

• The comparisons and images in the poem offer the reader a chance to think about the beloved's beauty in an unconventional way. For example, the phrase "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" reminds us that the warmth of summer is temporary, prompting a reflection on the permanence of love.

 

Meaning and Themes

Immortality and Beauty

• Shakespeare highlights the beloved's beauty while also stressing that this beauty can fade over time. However, through his works, this beauty becomes eternal.
• The expression "eternal summer" symbolizes the power of art and literature to make the ephemeral permanent.

Transience of Time

• The poem questions the transience of time and the permanence of love, offering the reader a profound opportunity for reflection. In this context, it reminds us of the value of time.