Formalism was a literary theory that arose in Russia in the 1920s-1930s and focused on analyzing the form and structure of literary texts rather than their content or context. The Russian Formalists rejected previous subjective literary criticism and sought to scientifically describe literature as a special use of language. They emphasized examining the formal devices used in texts, such as literary language versus ordinary language, defamiliarization techniques, foregrounding, narration and plot structure. The goal was to understand the "literariness" or what makes a text literary through its formal elements alone.

1. Formalism
formalism is a general term covering several types of literary criticism that arose in the
1920 - 1930 and flourished during the 1940-1950 in Russia by two groups moscow linguistic
circle (Roman jakobson) and Opoyaz (boris Eikhenbau, Viktor Shklovsky and Yuri Tynyanov).
It is also called early Russian formalism.
In reaction against previous literary theories, Russian Formalists rejected unsystematic,
subjective and impressionistic ways of dealing with literature, inherited from the 19th century
and attempted a scientific description of literature as a special use of language. Biographical,
social, political, or cultural contexts are not important in the critical process.
Formal aspects of literature
They focused on the formal aspects of literature, rather than its content. formalist focus
on literary function. it also focus on texture of literary function. formalist emphasised on form
and structure in the literature our context. the basis focus of formalist was on the literary
functions. literary functions are based on literary techniques.
Russian formalists were close to text and society has not importance for them. language was
more importance than traditions. the circumstances has no importance but the text which was
written in that era and certain circumstances. for example the structure of the text the form of the
text, which types of figure of speech are used in the work. they don't need to read the biography,
atmosphere, circumstances, traditions, the whole focus was on the text specially on the form,
structure, language and the meaning of the text.
Literariness
The Formalists focused on what Jakobson called ‘literariness,” or that which makes a literary
textdifferent from other types of writing. The literariness or artfulness of a work of literature,
that which makes it an aesthetic object, resides entirely in its devices, which should also form the
sole object of literary studies. Formalist critics read literary texts in order to discover their
“literariness” to highlight the devices and technical elements introduced by writers in order to
make language literary. The way something is said is more important than what is said.
Distinguish between literary language and non-literary language
They emphasized the difference between literary language and non-literary practical language
that aims at communicating information. literary devices that we do not find often in practical
language are forms of repetition that one does not find in ordinary language such as rhyme, a
regular meter, or the subdivision in stanzas that we find in many poems. Metaphors is what
makes literary language different from the ordinary language
From out the dark door of the secret earth
The voice of my education said to me
He must be Killed,
For in Sicily the black, black snake are innocent, the golden are venomous.
(D. H. Lawrance)

2. Poetry is not poetry because it employs deep and universal themes to explore the human
condition, but rather because in the process of defamiliarizing the language it draws attention to
its own artificiality, to the way it says what it says. Not ‘what’, but ‘how’ a text means is the
important thing.
Defamiliarization
Victor Shklovsky (1893-1984) introduced the concept of defamiliarization in “Art as
Technique” (1916). Defamiliarization means “making it strange.” The perceptions of human
beings become automized by repetition.The habitual nature of everyday experience makes
perception stale and automatic.
Art returns to us the awareness of things.
Defamiliarization of that which is or has become familiar automatically perceived. it is
the basic use of literary language. Art and literature have the ability to make us see the world
anew. To make that which has become familiar, because we have been overexposed to it,
strange again. Instead of merely registering things in an almost subconscious process of
recognition because we think we know them, we once again look at them.
Formalist individual parts of the text, the characters, the settings, the
tone, the point of view, the diction, and all other elements of the text to give meaning to the text
in a more literal way.
formalist believe in the defamiliarization in literature because with this device they want
to make literature more beautiful, more realistic, more attractive and more appealing. For
example, when you read a novel and in some situations you feel curiosity and strange in the
situation the writer used there defamiliarization because writer choices are uncommon, unreal,
innovative and unique.
Still unravished bride of quiteness (Keats)
heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter (Keats)
child is the father of men (wordsworth)
Foregrounding
formalists also focus on the foregrounding. foregrounding is a technique developed by
formalist Jan Mukarovsky in which formalist focus on the deviation of standard and norms like
at graphological level, the formalist observes the physical structure of text, punctuation marks
and graph.
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
(e. e. cummings)
all lines start from small alphabet and it is full of punctuation mark. capital letter is found in
center of the verse. e.g.
I am not yet born; O hear me (Louis Macneice)

3. formalist focuses on the phonological level deviation that poet does in their poems e.g
alliteration
On the bald street breaks the blank day. (tennyson)
biz biz biz bizibi bizibi
formalist also focuses on lexical level deviation that how poet use words that should
not go together or may no use together . e.g. open secret
formalist focuses on the syntactical level deviation that how poet used subject and verb
that may not agree in numbers.
Me up at does
Out of the floor
Quietly stare
A poisoned mouse (ee cumming)
formalist also focus on discourse level deviation. they also focus on the parallelism that
focuses on the repetition pattern
Bacon says in his essay Of Studies
"Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them"
Another example of parallelism is
"the fair breeze below, the white foam flew"
as Shakespeare says
If thou pick us, do we not bleed?
If thou tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die:'
And if thou wrong us, shall we not revenge'?
another example is
Slowly, slowly raise she up.
Plot
Formalists also studied the novel in structural terms. They analyzed the connection
between story (chronology of events) and plot (the raw material of the story). In Russian, story is
"fabula" and the plot is called "sjuzhet." Russian Formalist focuses on plot and climax and also
focus on the complication of the story or text.
Narration
Russian formalist focuses on the narration of the text which type of technique writer
used in the text. Does he/she use third person narration technique, second or first person
narration technique in the text.
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.
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.
Message

4. Russian Formalists focus on the message that the writer wants to convey the reader
through the text by using the figurative language by using metaphors, similes, and allusions go
beyond the literal meanings of the words to give readers new insights.
"Do not go gentle into that good night" (Dylan Thomas)
"To be or not to be " (Shakespeare)
"The voice of my education said to me
He must be Killed,
For in Sicily the black, black snake are innocent, the golden are venomous. " (D. H.
Lawrance)
In conclusion, we can say that the whole focused of formalism was on the text, its form
and structure. formalists were close to text and society has not importance for them. language
was more importance than traditions. the circumstances has no importance but the text which
was written in that era and certain circumstances. for example the structure of the text the form
of the text, which types of figure of speech are used in the work. they don't need to read the
biography, atmosphere, circumstances, traditions, the whole focus was on the text specially on
the form, structure, language and the meaning of the text.