Tomashevsky literature and biography definition

Defining Russian formalism

Russian formalism (often referred to as simply “formalism”) describes a branch of literary criticism that emerged in Russia around 1915.

Tomashevsky literature and biography definition

This form of criticism, partially influenced by futurism’s experimentation with poetry (see Barooshian, Russian Cubo-Futurism, 1910-1930, 2012), emphasized the autonomous nature of literature and refuted the idea that literature was a product of a specific historical and cultural context.

Russian formalism studies how certain devices (such as symbolism, metaphors, and so on) separate literature from ordinary, everyday language. Members of this school attempted to devise a scientific method by which to describe and analyze the features of poetry and prose.

As Victor Erlich puts it, 

Russian Formalism keeps the work of art itself in the center of attention: it sharply emphasizes the difference between literature and life, it rejects the usual biographical, psychological, and sociological exp