Russian Formalism in Poetry - 1847 Words

Introduction For my essay I am going to adopt a formalist approach to Wordsworth’s ‘The Thorn’. In particular I will be looking into the views of the Russian formalists such as Victor Shlovsky and Alexander Potebnya, and relating their thoughts to the poem. I will then be seeing how the ‘The Thorn’ relates to elements of the uncanny in its content. I will finish by including a reader response, where I will draw on my own thoughts of the poem. Russian formalism Russian formalism advocated a ‘scientific’ method for studying poetic language. Russian formalists saw poetry as something that can be mechanically taken in order to reveal devices that make it up. The formalists believed that poetry was made up of several different devices†¦show more content†¦To look at this extract in a metaphorical sense, it could be suggested that the thorn is the baby and the mosses are representing Martha or the evils in the world killing and burying the baby. This is an example of defamiliarisation, with the use of metaphor making understanding more complicated. Shlovsky defines a field of literary activity in which linguistically based devices (such as metaphor and metonymy) create an experience more complex and possibly less coherent, than the examination of images can suggest. (Contemporary literary criticism, second edition page 54). There are a few examples were it would seem the narrator is talking to or addressing the reader personally. For example the eleventh stanza (first line) reads â€Å"I’ll give you the best help I can:† That’s followed by instructions to get to the â€Å"dreary mountain top†. A few lines on it goes on to tell of her situation with ‘Stephen Hill’ and wedding plans etc, this seems to me to be purposely done to mimic gossiping (locals who say she killed her baby) – gossiping that is within the content of the poem. The third stanza has an unexpected change how the narrator is talking to the reader. The narrator is describing a muddy pond of water, using cold and windy descriptions as part of the imagery. Then the last two lines of the stanza read â€Å"I’ve measured it from side to side: ‘tis three feet long, and two feet wide†. This seems like an odd digression, with the narrator clearly going off the point of the story.Show MoreRelated5 Critical Approaches to Literature853 Words   |  4 Pagesstructuralism and formalism. Deconstructionists see works in terms of their undecidability. They reject formalists view that literary work is demonstrably unified from beginning to end or that it is organized around a single center that ultimately can be identified. They also see texts as more radically heterogeneous. Though a deconstructive reading can reveal the incompatible possibilities generated by text, it is impossible for the reader to decide among them. Formalism- Formalists see literaryRead MoreShostakovich3111 Words   |  13 Pagesreally it is full of sarcasm and hidden messages. 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