essay about formalist approach

Writing a Formalist Literary Analysis

Using formalism, a critic can show how the various parts of a work are welded together to make an organic whole. This approach examines a text as a self-contained object; it does not, therefore, concern itself with biographical information about the author, historical events outside of the story, or literary allusions, mythological patterns, or psychoanalytical traits of the characters (except those aspects described specifically in the text.)

A formalist critic examines the form of the work as a whole, the form of each individual part of the text (the individual scenes and chapters), the characters, the settings, the tone, the point of view, the diction, and all other elements of the text which join to make it a single text. After analyzing each part, the critic then describes how they work together to make give meaning (theme) to the text.

Point of View Setting Characters Plot Symbols Theme

A thorough analysis of the text is important to write a good paper here. Remember the judgment you make about a literary work will reflect your own values, biases, and experience; however, you MUST respect the author ' s words and intentions as presented in the text. Do not analyze a work in terms of what you would like to see; analyze it in terms of what you actually observe. Remember to clearly separate your assumptions from the author ' s assumptions.

· Before you begin to write, re-read your notes, considering which approach seems most appropriate. Write your answers to the following questions in FULL sentences.

o Did a particular aspect (literary element) of the novel make an impact on me?

o What relationships between the various parts of the novel (and literary elements) do I see?

o What lesson (meaning or theme) did the author want me to learn from reading this novel?

· Write a thesis which clearly and directly states the point you want to make about the novel. Consider this example of a thesis statement:

Example 1 :

Setting in "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is effective: the descriptions are beautiful.

· Next underline key words:

Setting in "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is effective : the descriptions are beautiful .

· Answer these questions about the example:

1. Does this thesis limit and focus what the writer has to say about the story?

Definitely not! This thesis (and I use the term loosely) is very vague. The key terms are so general that they fail to provide any focus for the paper. To provide specific examples to support this statement will be very difficult.

2. Can this thesis help to explicate the novel ' s theme?

Again, this statement has no real connection to what the author is saying (the meaning) in the story.

Eudora Welty uses the setting of "A Worn Path," presented in the vivid descriptive phrases of the protagonist ' s strenuous journey through the wild country of Natchez Trace, to connect the reader with Phoenix , both as a character and as a symbol .

1. Does this thesis limit and focus what the writer has to say about this story?

Yes! This paper will be give examples from the text which show how the description of the setting (during this character ' s journey) characterize the protagonist as a person and a symbol. In addition, repetition of the underlined key words will help this writer build coherence in the paper.

2. Can this thesis help to explicate the novel ' s meaning (theme)?

No, at least not directly. While connecting the setting along the journey to the main character will definitely get at the author ' s theme, the theme is not made clear. In fact, though both the character and the symbolism, almost assures this paper will discuss theme, the actual reference to the story ' s theme is missing. However, this thesis would address the assignment response for looking at form (structure) and how the story is built.

Example 3 :

Through Phoenix ' s strenuous journey in the wild country of Natchez Trace, Eudora Welty uses her protagonist to symbolically show the struggle of African-Americans toward equality and integration in the South after the Civil War.

Yes! This paper will give examples from the text showing how the character ' s journey symbolizes the African-Americans struggle for equality and integration. Repetition of the underlined key words will help this writer build coherence in the paper.

Yes! It connects the setting with the symbolic journey to get at the author ' s theme. In fact, looking at the journey, the character and the symbolism almost assures this paper will discuss theme. This thesis would address the assignment response for looking at meaning (theme).

Once you have arrived at the thesis, make a brief outline of the examples (including quotes and paraphrases--and page numbers for each) which will support the thesis you have written.

After preparing an optional outline, complete with examples, begin writing the paper. Always avoid allowing the quotes and paraphrases from the text to take over the paper. You are the critic, and this paper is YOUR formalist interpretation of the novel. Quote only the words necessary to make your point; avoid long passage of diaglor , etc. Also use the specific quotes and paraphrases as support for YOUR ideas and always interpret them for the reader, by showing how the quoted material connects to the point you are making. Do not expect a reader to interpret a scene or event from the text in the same way that you have. Always make the connections for the reader.

What is the point of view?

Point of view is the viewpoint from which you view the setting, see the action, observe the characters, and hear the conversations. Depending on the powers the author has granted this narrator, you may even be able to see inside a character ' s mind, learning what he or she thinks and feels. (. . .ever wish we all had these powers. . .?)

In first person point of view, "I" and "we" are used. Sometimes the first person narrator is a participant in the story of the novel; sometimes, he/she is an observer. The reliability of first person narrators should be evaluated on the basis of their involvement in the story).
In third person point of view, "he," "she," and "they" are used. Third person narrators may be omniscient (all-knowing), offering editorial comments on or an objective report of the characters and situations. Third person narrators may also be limited omniscient, functioning as a sort of central intelligence, though limited by the fact that they are also a character in the story; hence, they usually cannot see into minds, know the future, etc. A note of caution-- It is important to avoid confusing the narrator with the author in reading fiction.

Ask yourself the following questions in analyzing point of view:

How does the author ' s choice of point of view affect the reader ' s understanding and feelings about the story?
Does the point of view in the novel have a particular use?
What advantages does the author gain by using this viewpoint?
What changes in the novel would have to be made if the point of view were changed?
Does the author ' s choice of point of view reveal or illuminate his/her theme?

What is the setting?

Setting is more than just the place and time a story takes place. Setting also includes the atmosphere: the social and cultural context of the story. A novel may have many settings or occur at different times; however, each time and place were selected by the author for a particular reason. As yourself the following questions:

Does the setting play an important role in revealing any element of the novel?
What information does the setting give me about a situation or a character?
What influence does the setting have on the characters or their actions?
Does the setting contribute to the novel ' s theme?

Who are the characters?

Characters are the lifeblood of every novel, and some characters are more important than others. Characters may be round (more like real life with positive and negative traits) or flat (usually stereotypes that symbolize a certain type of person/place/thing). Characters may also be dynamic (changing and growing as the novel ' s events unfold) or static (those who remain unchanged no matter what happens to them).

In addition, note the following important character types as you read through the novel:

the protagonist - the main character around whom the novel ' s action revolves (usually). Don ' t be trapped into thinking this character must be human because he/she/it may not be .
the antagonist - the important character with whom the protagonist is locked in conflict. The antagonist may be a person or some other animate life form (or a collection of said life forms), a place, or a thing.
the foil - a minor character (usually) who is offered as a contrast to point out or emphasize a distinctive characteristic of the protagonist.

Ask yourself the following questions about the important characters of the novel?

4. Are the character physically described? How detailed are these descriptions, and who gives them to you? ( a narrator? or another character? reliability?)

5. How do the character ' s words and actions characterize him/her/it?

6. What is the character ' s motivation for the decisions and actions he/she/it makes?

7. Are the character ' s actions believable, given the setting and situations in the novel?

8. How do the characters, their actions and motivations, contribute to the novel ' s theme?

What are symbols?

Symbols extend beyond one-to-one comparison. Be cautious when looking for symbols. A symbol is a like signpost, used and oftentimes repeated at key junctures, that alludes to a larger meaning than the signpost normally would indicate. Symbols can be public or private.

Public symbols have traditional meanings. The rose which is a well-known symbol of love, and the apple is a religious symbol for forbidden knowledge as in the Adam and Eve story.

Private symbols can mean anything the author wishes them to mean, and this meaning is only apparent from the way in which they are used in the novel. Sometimes authorial and traditional symbols merge having both the traditional meaning, and one that is more closely related to the novel.

Symbols most often reveal characters to us and/or strongly allude to the theme of a novel. Readers of a novel may not always agree on a particular symbol ' s interpretation or even if a particular item is a symbol, so be careful to offer plenty of supporting evidence and reasoning to back up both your selection and interpretation of any symbol.

What is Theme?

Theme is the point of the book, the author ' s message to us: the readers. Theme is often complex, and thus, it may be difficult for two people out of ten to interpret the same theme. Though certain readers may see similar themes, most likely the themes they interpret will be different in some way or another to varying degrees.

Hence, theme is a matter of individual interpretation. However, the interpreter must not be too cavalier in assuming he/she can choose any theme whatsoever. The theme must logically come from the text; therefore, the theme must be supportable by using specific text examples. Care should be given to interpreting these specific text examples in the context that they are used in the novel. Care should also be given to avoid "stretching" or "reaching" too far to make a text example fit into our interpretation of the theme. In addition, the wise reader/interpreter will avoid associating the author or the author ' s life too closely with the main character or his/her life.

Questions to ask to get to the theme: 1. What lesson does the author want me (the reader) to learn from this book? 2. What lesson does the author want me (the reader) to learn about life?

* Important note - Be doubly sure to state the theme in an arguable statement. See the following examples:

In Way of the Peaceful Warrior , Dan Millman writes about living in the present. (This statement is not a theme; it announces the topic but does not make an arguable statement about it.)

In Way of the Peaceful Warrior , Dan Millman concludes that living in the present is the key to unreasonable happiness. (This statement gives us the topic "living in the present" and makes a point about it "is the key unreasonable happiness")

Research Papers
Sources 101
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A Formalist Approach to “The Story of an Hour”

The following sample literature essay is 1087 words long, in apa format, and written at the undergraduate level. it has been downloaded 24292 times and is available for you to use, free of charge., send via email.

Kate Chopin’s short story “ The Story of an Hour ” is filled with little surprises. She sets the reader in one direction with a specific image, and then startles you with a change of direction. Our initial look at the protagonist of the story is one of a delicate woman, easily harmed. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Chopin 1894). The writer cleverly does two things in this opening line that will be used later in the story to surprise the reader. The first is creating an image of a delicate woman. The second is making us aware she has a heart condition. We are drawn in immediately by the news that she is about to be informed she is a widow. The use of surprise and plot intrigue is clearly evident in this short story, lending it to be easily observed from a formalist approach. Our textbook states: “This approach is most widely used in literary comparison and criticism; it focuses on the form and development of the literary work itself” (Clugston, 2010). Chapter 16.2 of our text asks why is the plot intriguing? Did surprise occur? The surprise twists in this short story are what make it stand out, and what makes the piece memorable. The first sentence of the story will come back to haunt the reader in a short while, with a surprise ending to the story. This story suits the formalist approach as it is filled with surprise twists.

After hearing of her husband’s death, the woman reacts strongly: “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow” (Chopin 1894). With these lines the image of an exceptionally grief-stricken widow comes to mind. The reader sees the utter collapse of this woman, wildly thrashing in grief, and then removing herself to grieve alone. She goes upstairs and sits by a window, staring at the spring scene budding below her. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (Chopin 1894). To the reader, this image of budding spring contrasts deeply with the image of a weeping widow, facing an empty life and dealing with death instead of the spring of life. Chopin writes about the spring scene, a metaphor for life, with its blue sky and bird song.

As we are led into this image of life and contrasting death, Chopin begins leading us to our first surprise. She uses a foreshadowing technique to keep us interested: “There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air” (Chopin 1894). The reader feels a foreboding, still the feeling of death lingers, and we expect bad news. The first surprise is striking. We are awaiting disaster, yet the young widow, with her unlined face streaming tears feels released “When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free!” (Chopin 1894). The reader is left aghast.

Chopin describes an ordinary love between husband and wife. The widow will “weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (Chopin 1894).

As a reader, I was shocked at this turn of events, yet accepted this statement that she loved him, yet felt released. As Chopin continues to write descriptively about the widow’s reaction to her husband’s death, this sympathy waned somewhat. The widow is really truly elated at the prospect of widowhood. To add a bit of historical perspective here, one could look at the author’s own history of widowhood and independence, and occasional “scandalous” writing. One of her novels, “The Awakening” was criticized because it dealt with a woman’s strength despite her adulterous life, and Chopin often wrote about her personal quest for freedom (Clugston, 2010). The content and message of “The Awakening” caused a stir in local society, and Chopin was denied admission into the St. Louis Fine Art Club after its publication. In the remaining short five years of her life she wrote only a few short stories (Wyatt 1995).

The ending of the story contains the final surprise. After the reader is completely aware of the widow’s elation at her sudden freedom, even despite having loved her husband, he walks in the front door very much alive. The widow drops dead at the sight of him. “When the doctors came, they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills” (Chopin 1894). This is the final irony and twist in this short interesting story. Esther Lombardi in her article, “How to Become a Critical Reader” states: “Consider the title. What does it tell you about what the book, essay, or literary work is about?” (Lombardi). “The Story of an Hour” is filled with twists and plot intrigue, describing the reality of what one-hour can hold in the course of life’s surprise ups and downs. Kate Chopin does a wonderful job of manipulating the story to mirror the unexpected events that can occur at any time in our lives.

Chopin, K. (n.d.). "The Story of an Hour". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/

Clugston, W. (2010). Responding to Literary Experience, Literary Criticism: A Brief Overview. Journey into Literature (pp. Ch 2, Ch 16). San Diego CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc.

Lombardi, E. (n.d.). How to Become a Critical Reader . Books & Literature Classics. Retrieved from http://classiclit.about.com/od/forstudents/ht/aa_criticalread.htm

Wyatt, N. (n.d.). Biography of Kate Chopin. Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved from http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/katebio.html

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Literary Research: Formalism

What is formalism.

"Formalism refers to the critical tendency that emerged during the first half of the twentieth century and devoted its attention to concentrating on literature's formal structures in an objective manner... There are three critical movements that represent a formalist approach to literature. The first movement is Russian Formalism , from the 1910s to the 1930s (which, when suppressed by the Soviets in the 1930s, was continued by members of the Prague Linguistic Circle). The second is the New Criticism , which emphasized close reading, dominant in British and American education. The third movement is Structuralism , a dominant trend in mid-century France."

Brief Overviews:

" Formalism ." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas.
" Form and Formalism ." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature.
" Russian Formalism ." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism .
" New Criticism ." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism .
' Structuralism ." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism .

Notable Scholars

Russian Formalism:

Boris Eichenbaum

In original Russian .

Roman Jakobson

Selected Writings (8 volumes).

Jakobson, Roman. Language in Literature . Belknap Press, 1987.

Victor Shklovsky

Shklovskiĭ, Viktor. On the Theory of Prose . Translated by Shushan Avagyan, Dalkey Archive Press, 2021.

In original Russian: O teorii prozy ( print ) and eBook .

The Prague School / Prague Linguistic Circle:

René Wellek

Wellek, René. The Literary Theory and Aesthetics of the Prague School . University of Michigan, 1969.

New Criticism:

Cleanth Brooks

Searle, Leroy. " Cleanth Brooks ." Oxford Bibliography in Literary and Critical Theory, 2021. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780190221911-0112
Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry . Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1956.
Brooks, Cleanth. Modern Poetry and the Tradition . University of North Carolina Press, 1967.

Kenneth Burke

Burke, Kenneth. The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action . Louisiana State University Press, 1941.

Northrop Frye

Collected Works (30 volumes)

I. A. Richards

Richards, I. A. and C. K. Ogden, C. K. The Meaning of Meaning: a Study of the Influence of Language Upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism . Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1938.
Richards, I. A. and C. K. Ogden, C. K. The Foundations of Aesthetics. International Publishers, 1925. ( Print and eBook .)

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Stylistics

Introduction, classics and history.

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Film and Drama
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Stylistics by Lesley Jeffries LAST REVIEWED: 26 July 2017 LAST MODIFIED: 26 July 2017 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780190221911-0048

Stylistics is the study of textual meaning. Historically, it arose from the late-19th- and early-20th-century Russian formalist approach to literary meaning, which endeavored to identify the textual triggers of certain literary effects from their structures. As a result, for much of its history, stylistics has been concerned with the style, and consequent meaning, of literary works. However, the burgeoning of modern linguistics in the early part of the 20th century and the simultaneous rise of mass media (newspapers, radio, and television in the first instance) led stylisticians toward two new concerns. First, they wanted to establish whether there was anything unique about the language of literature that differentiated it absolutely from other language use. For this project, new insights from descriptive linguistics were crucial as an objective and rigorous way of describing—and comparing—texts in terms of their style. The eventual consensus that developed from such work was that there is no absolute division, in linguistic usage, between literary and nonliterary texts, though genres of all kinds (including nonliterary genres) may have stylistic preferences that help to identify them. Second, stylisticians wanted to find out how style affected such important issues as political and social change, through the texts encountered by citizens in their daily lives. The result was the adaptation and application of stylistic analysis to nonliterary texts for the purpose of highlighting ideology—particularly hidden ideology—rather than for the purpose of explaining aesthetic effects. This development ultimately gave rise to what is now called “critical discourse analysis,” though this term now encompasses many studies that are minimally linguistic in their concerns. The initial enthusiasm for the insights that linguistics could bring to literary study, together with some of the principal notions from Russian formalism, such as “defamiliarization,” produced stylistics’ early theoretical core notions, such as foregrounding, external and internal deviation, and parallelism. These continue to be central to much stylistic scholarship, and for this reason it has not been possible to group texts relating to foregrounding and deviation together here, as they also range widely across the other categories necessary to map out the field. It is also worth noting that the increasing use of computational methodologies borrowed from corpus linguistics means that today it is possible to examine not only foregrounded, but also background features of style. Meanwhile, stylistics has continued to follow the “new” subdisciplines of the field (sociolinguistics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, etc.), as well as developing connections with other disciplines, notably psychology, to develop a range of more subtle tools of analysis to understand how the texts that are its central concern make meaning.

It is generally true that each item in this list could have been categorized differently, but an attempt has been made to identify the publications that have most clearly made an impact on thinking about style that continues to the present day. These debates include the dissatisfaction of literary scholars with the lack of clarity of literary criticism where it has no shared framework of analysis or descriptive language, as seen in Ehrlich 1965 , an introduction to stylistics first published in 1955; the question of whether advances in rigor and systematicity tend to produce analysis that is lacking in understanding of textual/literary meaning, in particular the many critical reviews that followed Sebeok 1960 ; the two parallel threads of a developing stylistics, arising from literary criticism on the one hand (as in Epstein 1978 ), and from linguistics, on the other (as in Sebeok 1960 and Fowler 1971 ). Other entries here, such as Fowler 1971 ; Fowler 1986 , merge the two approaches more completely, and, in the case of Leech and Short 2007 (first published 1981), have been judged by peers to have made the largest contribution to the discipline in the last twenty-five years, as determined by the Poetics and Linguistics Association.

Crystal, David, and Derek Davy. Investigating English Style . London: Longman, 1966.

An early, and at the time unique, application of linguistics to the study of stylistic differences between nonliterary texts. Crystal and Davy’s aim was a practical and systematic method for identifying textual style, based on regularity of occurrence of certain linguistic features in texts, linked to (situational and other) external features.

Ehrlich, Victor. Russian Formalism: History, Doctrine . 2d ed. The Hague: Mouton, 1965.

A critical but balanced study of the formalist origins of stylistics, this book traces the impetus for a new discipline with objectivity and rigor resulting from the impatience of literary scholars with “impressionistic criticism” and introduces the Russian formalists through the work of its most distinguished pioneer, Roman Jakobson. First published 1955.

Enkvist, Nils Erik. Linguistic Stylistics . The Hague: Mouton, 1973.

DOI: 10.1515/9783111348926

Enkvist showcases the methods and techniques of stylistics that drew most strongly on new insights from linguistics. His emphasis was on systematicity and transparency.

Epstein, E. L. Language and Style . London: Methuen, 1978.

This book attempts to use linguistic description to address the question of whether there is a qualitative difference between personal (i.e., unique) style and public patterning of language. This ambition appears implicitly linked to the quest for a definition of literary and particularly individual author style as separate from “everyday” language, but it has been superseded by a more holistic view of style as being on a continuum between genre and individual author.

Fowler, Roger. The Languages of Literature . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971.

A collection of papers republished from elsewhere that attempt to make the case for a linguistic approach to literature, though often reviewed negatively in failing to adequately illustrate with examples of analysis, beyond those dealing with meter. The collection reprints both sides of Fowler’s argument with F. W. Bateson about the value of linguistic criticism.

Fowler, Roger. Linguistic Criticism . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.

This is one of the ground-breaking books of early stylistics which introduces the precision and systematicity of linguistic approaches to literary meaning. It explains in a clear style how the analytical insights of linguistics can illuminate the reader’s understanding of literary works and it illustrates from poems, plays and fiction. Whilst now relatively old, this remains a very good introduction to the field for readers new to stylistics. First published 1971.

Freeman, D. C. Essays in Modern Stylistics . London: Methuen, 1981.

This collection of articles demonstrates a range of applications of linguistics to the style and interpretation of literature. It includes studies of individual authors, such as the poets John Keats and William Blake, as well as essays that consider the place of stylistics alongside literary studies and linguistics.

Leech, Geoffrey, and Mick Short. Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose . 2d ed. London: Pearson Education, 2007.

Like many stylistics books, this one is partly aimed at students, though it also breaks new theoretical ground, particularly in relation to speech presentation and demonstrates the accuracy with which linguistically trained scholars can describe features of literary works. The second edition has new material. First published 1981.

Lemon, L. T., and M. J. Reis, eds. Russian Formalist Criticism: Four Essays . 2d ed. University of Nebraska Press, 2012.

This reissued book collects together four of the most influential essays by Russian formalist scholars from the early 20th century—work that laid down the foundations of what we would today call “stylistics.” The essays include two by Viktor Shklovsky, one that introduces defamiliarization, and one that puts forward a theory of narrative through analysis of Tristram Shandy . The others are Boris Tomashevsky’s “Thematics” (1925), which looks at the components of stories, and Boris Eichenbaum’s “The Theory of the ‘Formal Method’” (1927), which defends formalism from various criticisms.

Sebeok, Thomas Albert, ed. Style in Language . Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1960.

The papers and some of the discussion from a gathering at Indiana University in 1958. Participants came from a range of disciplines, including psychology and anthropology, as well as linguistics and literary studies, and the volume includes contributions from two of the discipline’s most renowned scholars, Roman Jakobson and I. A. Richards.

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FORMALISM (also known as NEW CRITICISM) A Basic Approach to Reading and Understanding Literature

Formalist theory has dominated the American literary scene for most of the twentieth century, and it has retained its great influence in many academic quarters. Its practitioners advocate methodical and systematic readings of texts. The major premises of New Criticism include: "art for art's sake," "content = form," and "texts exist in and for themselves." These premises lead to the development of reading strategies that isolate and objectify the overt structures of texts as well as authorial techniques and language usage. With these isolated and objective readings, New Criticism aims to classify, categorize, and catalog works according to their formal attributes. Along the way, New Criticism wants to pull out and discuss any universal truths that literary works might hold concerning the human condition. These truths are considered by New Critics to be static, enduring, and applicable to all humanity. Leading new critics include I.A. Richards, Cleanth Brooks, Northrop Frye, John Crowe Ransom, T.S. Eliot, and Roman Jacobsen. These thinkers consider literature to be a language game in which communication becomes semi-transparent. They reject Impressionism, moral tones, and philological studies, and believe that written works should work mostly on the intellect. The rise of New Criticism coincides with that of modern literature, probably because of the popularity of the "art for art's sake" maxim. Formalists value poetry rich in ambiguity, irony, and intention, and want to make literary criticism a science. This last projection introduces the concept of expert readers into interpretive theory. Current theorists tend to criticize Formalism for this and other symptoms of narrow-mindedness; still, they cannot deny that New Criticism has left a lasting impression on American literary scholarship. Its terminology continues as the basis for most literary education in the United States, and other critical approaches to reading and critiquing literature depend upon readers' familiarity with these terms to articulate their findings.

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CINZIA SACCHETTI

Cleanth Brooks: ‘The Formalist Critic’

Cite this chapter.

K. M. Newton

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Here 1 are some articles of faith I could subscribe to:

That literary criticism is a description and an evaluation of its object. That the primary concern of criticism is with the problem of unity — the kind of whole which the literary work forms or fails to form, and the relation of the various parts to each other in building up this whole. That the formal relations in a work of literature may include, but certainly exceed, those of logic . That in a successful work, form and content cannot be separated. That form is meaning . That literature is ultimately metaphorical and symbolic . That the general and the universal are not seized upon by abstraction, but got at through the concrete and the particular . That literature is not a surrogate for religion . That, as Allen Tate says, ‘specific moral problems’ are the subject matter of literature, but that the purpose of literature is not to point a moral . That the principles of criticism define the area relevant to literary criticism; they do not constitute a method for carrying out the criticism .

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Newton, K.M. (1997). Cleanth Brooks: ‘The Formalist Critic’. In: Newton, K.M. (eds) Twentieth-Century Literary Theory. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25934-2_6

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8.5: Approaches to Literary Analysis

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Approaches to Literary Analysis

Since the 1960s, a number of schools or approaches to literary analysis have emerged in the academy. Some of the sources you discover may seem to obviously derive from one of the following traditions. Others may be indirectly influenced by one or more of these approaches:

Formalist, or New Critic, analysis prioritizes close reading based solely on the text itself, its language, structure, symbols, and themes, and eschews interpretation based on the influence of outside information (such as personal history of the author, for example).

New Historicist

New Historicist analysis values the particulars of the time period and location in which the author created the text, as well as any influencing circumstances of the author’s life.

Psychoanalytic

Psychoanalytic, or psycholinguistic, analysis emphasizes the interpretation of characters’ mental and emotional states, narrative point-of-view, the unconscious potency of symbol and imagery, and/or the psychological implications of linguistic pattern, tone, and word usage.

Feminist analysis examines the text through the lens of women’s experience and may also consider factors in the publishing or critical reception of the work when influenced by gender norms.

Marxist analysis addresses the text as a material product of the society from which it emerged, with particular attention to socio-economic issues.

Queer analysis reads the text with strong consideration of “queer” identity and/or “queering” of characters, actions, and/or speech; for example, the cross-dressing and gender switching that occurs in some of Shakespeare’s plays can take on more significance than mere dramatic convention.

Reader-Response

Reader-Response analysis seeks to reveal the activity of the reader as contributing to — even completing — the meaning of the text by applying his or her own experiences, perspectives and cultural values; this approach is not done personally, but in consideration of “the reader” as a type or a social category.

Today, many literary scholars engage in the practice of intersectionality , that is the attention to the complexity of how cultural views and traditions often fall into more than one category. For example, while we might gain a great deal by interpreting a short story through a psychoanalytic lens, focusing only on this approach may foreclose the possibilities for our analysis to become as deeply grounded in formalist analysis, or may offer only a passing look at historical issues.

Analytical writers should not base their essays on a particular approach simply for the sake of following that school of thought, but rather to further their understanding of, and appreciation for, the literature in question, as well as the clarity of the interpretation offered. Often hybrid approaches, approaches than combine aspects of two or more of these analytical traditions, are very successful, so long as the thesis remains focused and the support specific and well-documented. As ever, consult with your professor about the specifics of your analytical project and the particular expectations he or she may have for a given assignment. (1)

Authored by : Florida State College at Jacksonville. License : CC BY: Attribution

Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism Essay

The fundamental aspect of a formalist critic is to visualize a literary work from the perspective of “ language, structure and tone ” (Meyer 1538). This form of criticism is more about the vibe of literature rather than the interpretation of its structural foundation. This is a new tool in the hands of a writer and the writer can benefit from it immensely as it provides the opportunity to explore a whole new world of literary understanding of insight, sensitivity, perception, and perspective.

If we analyze the approach of a formalist critic we would see that this form of criticism is more dependent on imageries presented in the text rather than the basics of the literature. Its approach appears to be more suited for criticism of poetry rather than novel or academic writings. However, this form of criticism can be beneficial if used properly. Maynard Mack’s “The World of Hamlet” is such an example of the able use of the approach. He interprets the character of Hamlet in a completely new level of understanding, and this is regarded as one of the finest examples of formalist strategies. Again, in Kate Choplin’s story “The Story of an Hour”, with a formalist approach, one can derive the ironic situation of the main character of the story. These are the occasions when a formalist critic can analyze and evaluate the fundamentals of a text without even describing the plot or the characters of the literature.

Thus, it is obvious that the formalist critic depends on the basic vibe of the literature rather than the literature itself. It can be well stated that this form of analysis or criticism is more intricate and sensitive. It can be stated as a responsive method because it directly deals with the inner core of the plot or structure of the literature and not the plot itself with the help of literary tools like ironies or paradoxes. It is also more susceptible in a sense because while dealing with elements like metaphors and symbols, it evokes the intention of the author in a more perceptive manner. It is difficult to reach such an outcome with the help of traditional tools of criticism like plot, settings, or characterizations of the literature.

Thus, it is obvious that the analysis of tone is more sensitive than analysis of plot or criticizing with the help of structure is more insightful than the use of characterizations. Similarly, with the use of language and its evaluation one would be able to present an intuitive vibe that, otherwise, would not evoke through a traditional style of criticism with the help of setting of the text. As a result, Shakespeare’s depiction of Hamlet as the principal avenger of the play along with his dealing with the senses of loss and frailty reaches a new level with the formalist discussion. Similarly, the symbolic equivocations in the story, along with the thematic depiction of renewal and rebirth, set the character of Mrs. Mallard alive in a different aspect.

However, it is not the objective to prove traditional criticism as an obsolete or unhelpful tool, rather it can be stated that the use of Formalist criticism has provided a new perspective of literal analysis that was not present earlier. In conclusion, it can be stated that Formalist criticism and strategies are a special part of literature review, and they just enrich the literature by deploying new avenues of discussion.

Works Cited

Meyer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing . St. Martin’s: Bedford, 2008.

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IvyPanda. (2021, December 31). Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism. https://ivypanda.com/essays/formalist-strategies-in-literary-criticism/

"Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism." IvyPanda , 31 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/formalist-strategies-in-literary-criticism/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism'. 31 December.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism." December 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/formalist-strategies-in-literary-criticism/.

1. IvyPanda . "Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism." December 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/formalist-strategies-in-literary-criticism/.

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IvyPanda . "Formalist Strategies in Literary Criticism." December 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/formalist-strategies-in-literary-criticism/.

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Chapter Eight — Formalist Criticism: Its Principles and Limits

From the book language as symbolic action.

Kenneth Burke
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Supplementary Materials

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Chapters in this book (30)

The Mindsmith

"To mend and mold and shape minds, let's first break the barriers of learning…"

Formalist criticism

Intended learning outcomes

By the completion of this lesson, the students should be able to:

Explain formalist criticism;
Discuss the gist of the short story “Araby”;
Write a formalist criticism of a chosen short story.

What is Formalist criticism?

Formalist criticism is defined as a literary criticism approach which provides readers with a way to understand and enjoy a work for its own inherent value as a piece of literary art. Formalist critics spend a great deal of time analyzing irony, paradox, imagery, and metaphor. They are also interested in a work’s setting, characters, symbols, and point of view.

Broadly, it is concerned exclusively with the text in isolation from the world, author, or reader.

Specifically, the Russian Formalism focused on literariness of texts, defamiliarization, material & device, story & plot, and narrative voice; while the New Criticism focused on the text as an object that can be analyzed independent of the author, world, or reader.

What isn’t formalist criticism?

It does not treat the text as an expression of social, religious, or political ideas; neither does it reduce the text to being a promotional effort for some cause or belief.
Those who practice formalism claim they do not view works through the lens of feminism, psychology, Marxism, or any other philosophical standpoint.
They are also uninterested in the work’s effect on the reader.

Other names of formalist criticism

Russian Formalism
New Criticism
Aesthetic criticism
Textual criticism
Ontological criticism
Practical criticism

Historical background

Aristotle focused on the “elements” with which a work is composed.
The Romantics stressed organic unity from imaginations’ “esemplastic” power.
Poe extolled the “singleness of effect” in poetry & fiction.
James made the same case for fiction as “organic form. ”

British practitioners

I. A. Richards
William Empson
F.R. Leavis

American practitioners

W.K. Wimsatt
Robert Penn Warren
Richard Blackmur
Cleanth Brooks
John Crowe Ransom

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an English poet, literary critic and philosopher. With his friend William Wordsworth, he founded the Romantic Movement in England. He is one of the three “Lake Poets . ” His most celebrated work is the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

He believes that “ the spirit of poetry must embody in order to reveal itself .”
Form to him is not simply the visible, external shape of literature. It was something “organic,” “innate.”
“ It shapes as it develops itself from within, the fullness of its development is one and the same with the perfection of its outward form. Such is life, such the form !”

New criticism

New criticism is a form of formalist formed as a reaction to the prevalent attention that scholars and teachers in the early part of the 20th century who paid to the biographical and historical context of a work thereby diminishing the attention given to the literature itself.
Informally began in 1920s at Vanderbilt University in discussions among John Crowe Ransom, Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks.
They published a literary magazine called The Fugitive for three years.
They influenced writers and theorists abroad such as T.S. Eliot, I.A. Richards, and William Empson.
Practice of close-reading the text
Practice of appreciation of order
Asserts that understanding a work comes from looking at it as a self-sufficient object with formal elements
To know how a work creates meaning became the quest

T.S. Eliot’s full name is Thomas Stearns Eliot. He is an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic. He is one of the twentieth century’s major poets. He penned famous poems such as “The Waste Land” and “The Hollow Men.”

He proposed the idea called “objective correlative” which tells how emotion is expressed in art.
“A set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion…”
“When external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience; are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.”

Russian formalism

Its practitioners were influenced by Ferdinand de Saussure (French linguist and literary critic).
They believe that literature is a systematic set of linguistic and structural elements that can be analyzed.
They saw literature as a self-enclosed system that can be studied not for its content but for its form.
Form was more important than the content.

Viktor Shklovsky

Viktor Shklovsky is a member of the Russian formalism movement. Shklovsky is perhaps best known for developing the concept of “ ostranenie” or defamiliarization (also translated as “estrangement” ) in literature. He explained this concept in the important essay “Art as Technique” (also translated as “Art as Device”) which comprised the first chapter of his seminal ” Theory of Prose ,” first published in 1925.

He argued for the need to turn something that has become over-familiar, like a cliché in the literary canon, into something revitalized.

“The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects ‘unfamiliar’, to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object; the object is not important.” (Shklovsky, “Art as Technique“)

Reading as a Formalist critic

Do’s:.

Must first be a close or careful reader who examines all the elements of a text individually
Questions how they come together to create a work of art
Respects the autonomy of work
Achieves understanding of it by looking inside it, not outside or beyond
Allow the text to reveal itself
The text is a self-contained entity
Analyze how the elements work together to form unity of form.

Dont’s:

Look beyond the work by reading the author’s biography, or literary style
Examining the work’s historical background and condition of society
The text’s influences or prior similarity with other works
Take the elements distinct and separate from each other.

Important considerations

Look for motifs – rhyme scheme, recurrences, repetitions, relationships, patterns, images, parallelism
Examine the Point of View – (prosody) the narrator: personality, understanding, presentation, attitude
Scrutinize the structure – plot (chronological), conflict (surface-subsurface)
Development of form – similarities and differences
Look for denotation/connotation – allusions, etymology, synonyms
Examine the symbols – objects, artifacts, events, actions, images
Follow the work’s unity – how do elements conspire?
Watch out for tensions – the conflict of these elements
Analyze the figures of speech – ambiguity, irony, paradox, etc.

What doesn’t appear in Formalist criticism

To restate a poem or summarize or summarize a story is to lose it.
Its uniqueness disappears.
Any alteration of wording or structure or point of view changes the meaning of the original and cannot, therefore, be valid.
To indulge concern about what he (author) had planned to do is to commit Intentional fallacy.
Intentional fallacy refers to the belief that the meaning of a work may be determined by the author’s intention.
Even if the intention of the author is obvious, it may not have been carried out.
The work is not the writer, nor is the writer the work.
By asking the work’s effect on the reader or audience, they shift their attention to results rather than the work itself.
Such activity will lead to affective fallacy.
Affective fallacy refers to the belief that the meaning or value of a work may be determined by its affect on the reader.

Writing a Formalist criticism

Revisit your reading log or marginal notation.
See how the keywords are woven together.
recurrences,
visual motifs,
repeated words and phrases for meaning;
unity – meaningful coherence of the elements
tension – identify the effects produced by paradox and irony.
a strong image
a particular element
a reaction or
an observation

Drafting and revising

Recount a meaningful incident from a story or
Quote a few lines from the poem
Then explain why such incident or lines are important to understanding the text as a whole.
Cite examples on how the form, diction, and unity operate together to develop a theme
Observe unity, emphasis and coherence in detailing your examples
Focus on the literary elements rather than the plot or sequence of the story or the stanza of the poem.
Giving a generalization or conclusion
Rhetorical question
Strong conviction

“That’s for the lecture. We will use the short story “Araby” as our spring board text, hence, you are expected to read it three times using the guidelines presented here.

In our class, we will put these theories into action. Message me if you have concerns by clicking here .

Dobie, Ann B. (2009). Theory into Practice: An Intro to Literary Criticism. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Fry, Paul H. (2013). Theory of Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Habib, M. R. (2011). A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to Present. UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
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Victoria J. Crossman

A rose for emily: a formalist approach.

Using a formalist approach to critiquing this story gave me a different way of reading “A Rose for Emily.”I went into reading this piece with the decision already made that I would use a formalist approach. The narration of “A Rose for Emily” is written in first person, or as a member of the community. Using phrases such as, “we did not say she was crazy then” (86) made the story believable, as if it actually happened, rather than a third person narrative most fiction stories use. The imagery Faulkner presents in this story gives off a setting in the old south. Words such as “tradition,” (93) “generation” (93), and “sort of hereditary obligation” (93) contribute to an old southern feel. Even though the story is written as if it were told by a member of the community, the imagery is fitting since Faulkner himself is from Mississippi during the Civil War (83).The old feel of the story is suitable, since “A Rose for Emily” begin and ends with her death. The old-timey feel aids the reader in realizing that they are reading a story which switches back and forth over the main characters life. The plot of “A Rose for Emily” jumps back and forth in non-chronological order. This method of storytelling delivers an immense element of surprise at the end of the story. The narration also ties into the element of surprise at the end of the story. Since the story is read as if a member of society were writing it in present tense, there is very little way the reader could predict the end of the story until further down. For example, in the story Emily purchases poison and the members of the community were certain “she will kill herself” (88). Later, Emily’s cousins report to the community “that she had bought a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt” (88). However, if the events of the story were reversed in order, it would be easier for the reader to conclude what actually happened – that Emily murdered Herbert with rat poison. Part of using a formalist approach is deciding whether or not a story can be considered a piece of art. In my opinion, I think that “A Rose for Emily” can be considered a piece of art. Faulkner won a Nobel Peace Prize in literature, and I can certainly see why. The story was at first slightly confusing as far as the plot goes, but as the story developed the plot became more apparent. Even if the plot were understood from the beginning, Faulkner has a strong command of English, creating wonderful scenes of imagery and I was able see everything that was being described in the story vividly.

Formalist Criticism Example Through the Analysis of Literary Works

Category: Literature
Topic: Literary Criticism , Literature Review , Understanding

Pages: 6 (2546 words)

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'The Earthquake in Chile' by Heinrich von Kleist

“death by landscape”, “to the ladies” by lady mary chudleigh, 'the portrait of a lady' by khushwant singh, odyssey book 14 - the loyal swineherd, lust over victory “helen reviews the champions”, “aeneas visits the underworld” by virgil , “wherefore the worm universe” by haruki murakami, 'the road not taken' by robert frost, 'the tale of melon city' by vikram seth.

Davis Larkin. Helen Review The Champions. 2013, p. 5.
Haruki Murakami. Wherefore the Worm Universe. 2009.
Khushwant Singh. The Portrait Of A Lady. 2007, p. 10
LADY MARY CHUDLEIGH. 'To The Ladies By Lady Mary Chudleigh | Poetry Foundation'. Poetry Foundation, 2003
Margaret Atwood. Death By Landscape. 2006, p. 8
Haruki murakami (2008). Wherefore the Worm Universe. pp.79-83.
Odyssey. The Loyal Swineherd. 2005, p. 18.
ROBERT FROST. ' The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost | Poetry Foundation'. Poetry Foundation, 2003
Vikram Seth. The Tale Of Melon City. 2017, p. 6
Virgil. Aeneas Visits The Underworld. 2004, p. 3.

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