Russian-Formalism

RussianFormalismandAnglo-AmericanNewCriticismIntroduction•NewCriticismandRussianFormalismaresimilarinthatbothclaimthattext,ratherthantheauthororthereader,shouldbethefocusforliterarystudies.Theyintendtoestablishliterarycriticismasanacademicdisciplinethatisindependentfromhistoricalandbibliographycriticism.RussianFormalism•RussianformalismwasaninfluentialschoolofliterarycriticisminRussiafromthe1910stothe1930s.UnderStalinitbecameapejorativetermforelitistart.•ItincludestheworkofmanyinfluentialRussianandSovietscholarssuchasViktorShklovskyandRomanJakobson.•theprimaryobject:literarinessofartistictexts,•Itistheorganizationoflanguagewhichthroughspeciallinguisticandformalpropertiesdistinguishesliterarytextsfromnon-literarytexts.•VictorShklovsky,inhisfamousessay“ArtasTechnique,”offershisnotionofdefamiliarization.•Itistheartistictechniqueofpresentingaudiencescommonthingsinanunfamiliarwayinordertoenhancetheperceptionofthefamiliar.•Forexample,inShame,Tolstoy“defamiliarizes”theideaof“flogging”(鞭打）inthisway:tostrippeoplewhohavebrokenthelaw,tohurlthemtothefloor,andtorapontheirbottomswithswitches.Plotandstory•TheFormalistsalsointroducedthedistinctionbetweenwhattheycalledstoryandplot.TheFormalistsstressthatonlyplotisstrictlyliterary,whilestoryismerelyrawmaterialawaitingtheorganizinghandofthewriter.Anglo-AmericanNewCriticismAnglo-AmericanNewCriticism•ItwasadominanttendinEnglishandAmericanliterarycriticismofthemiddletwentiescentury,fromthe1920sandtheearly1960s.history•Appearingasthepredominantcriticalforminthe1940sthroughthe1960s.•itstheoreticalfoundationcandatebacktoT.S.Eliot,hisfamousessayTraditionandIndividualTalent,claimingthatpoetsshouldconveyimpersonalfeelingstothereadingpublic.•firstdevelopingmainlyinAmericathroughtheworkofSoutherncriticslikeCleanthBrooks,RobertPennWarren,andJohnCrowRansom,givingNewCriticismitsphilosophicalmotivation.•Thefundamentalaim:tocreateacriticalalternativetoimpressionismandhistoricalscholarship.•Advocating“intrinsic”criticism-animpersonalconcernfortheliteraryworkasanindepedentobject.•Opposing“extrinsic”criticalapproaches,whichconcernedwithsuchmattersashistoricalorpoliticalconsiderations.Fourtypicalnewcriticalconcepts•TheearlierNewCriticismwasprimarilyinterestedinlyricpoetryandregardedmosthighlyformsofpoetryinwhichirony,tension,paradoxandambiguityinteractwiththesemanticsoflanguage•Irony,intheNewCriticismwasthoughttobethemastertropeinthatitwasessentialtotheproductionofparadoxandambiguity.•Paradox,intheNewCriticismisextendedtoembraceanycomplexityoflanguagethatsustainsmultiplemeaningsanddeviatesfromthenormsofordinarylanguageuse.•Ambiguity:accordingtoWilliamEmpson“anyverbalnuancewhichgivesroomforalternativereactionstothesamepieceoflanguage”•Tension:istheresolutionofopposites,ofteninironyandparadox•张力原为物理名词，由退特引入文学批评中，成为新批评的重要概念。所谓张力就是指诗歌当中由词的字典意义与延伸意义所产生的相互牵制、相互依托的关系，诗歌的张力便来自于词的全部外延与内涵所表现的各种意义的统一。诗歌应该是其字典意义与延伸意义的平衡，字面意思与隐喻意义这两种因素要同时存在并处于张力的状态。若过分偏重于字典意义，诗便少了诗味，过分偏重于隐喻意义，又常造成晦涩难懂。只有在两者的相互约束、相互限制中，使隐喻意义在尽可能理解的范围内发挥作用，使字面意思在尽可能暗示的范围内保持其意义的一致性，才能使诗内涵丰富而又耐人寻味Ironyinuse•“AModestProposalbyJonathanSwift“Iratherrecommendbuyingthechildrenalive,anddressingthemhotfromtheknifeaswedoroastingpigs.”Thankyou!