Chapter 3: Formalisms

1. Chapter 3: Formalisms A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

2. Chapter 3: Formalism • Abandons historical and biographical information and focuses on the work as a separate entity • Formalistic critics examine the intrinsic factors of the work’s structure • “Art for art’s sake”

3. Chapter 3 I. The Process of Formalist Analysis: Making the Close Reader • Elements of prose and poetry, terms, structure, imagery II. A Brief History of Formalist Criticism A. The Course of Half a Century

4. History of Formalism (cont’d.) B. Backgrounds of Formalist Theory C. The New Criticism • The “Fugitives” (Ransom, Tate, Brooks, Warren); relationship of metaphysical poets to modern poets (cf Eliot); important textbooks such as Understanding Poetry and Understanding Fiction (Brooks and Warren); other texts by Gordon, Tate, Wimsatt, Kermode D. Reader-Response Criticism: A Reaction

5. Key Terms and Devices III. Constants of the Formalist Approach: Some Key Concepts, Terms, and Devices • Form and Organic Form (Schorer): “the difference between content, or experience, and achieved content, or art, is technique” B. Texture, Image, Symbol • Crucial role of imagery and symbol; metaphor versus allegory

6. Key Terms (cont’d.) C. Fallacies • Affective, intentional D. Point of View • First-, second-, and third-person; reliability E. The Speaker’s Voice F. Tension, Irony, Paradox

7. Using the Formalist Approach • Making the Close Reader, p. 74 • History of Formalist Criticism, p. 76 • The “New Criticism,” p. 78 • “A slumber did my spirit steal…,” p. 93

8. Application of the Formalistic Approach • The formalist critic dissects the poem solely using structural devices (imagery, diction, metaphor) to convey the meaning of “To His Coy Mistress” • Prominent motifs of the poem: Space/Time metaphor Sexuality