Formalism

Question 1

focus of classic formalism

Answer 1

drama as “poetry”
Greek origin
*Aristotle’s poetics

Question 2

sample formalist devices

Answer 2

theme or motif
character
plot
setting
tone 
symbol
catharsis

Question 3

types of formalism

Answer 3

Aristotelian/Classical
Russian
New Criticism

Question 4

What are some key formalist assumptions?

Answer 4

study of lit. is valuable
aesthetic experience yields truth
poetic truth differs from science
poetic truth equally valid
work is object/artifact
writer's mind is catalyst only
form and content- inseparable
lit. deals with concrete moral issue
lit is a product of history, personality, and taste
critic assumes an ideal reader

Question 5

Where/when did New Criticism begin?

Answer 5

England and America

1940s-50s

Question 6

What is the purpose of New Criticism?

Answer 6

sought a scientific (methodical, verifiable) approach to literary criticism

Question 7

Shklovsky

Answer 7

defamiliarization

*literature should defamiliarize things to make us see them in a new way

Question 8

What is Russian Formalism concerned with?

Answer 8

literariness (poetics)