Formalism meaning in literature examples. Formalism deals with the form and function of literature.

Formalism meaning in literature examples (1) The Historical Sep 17, 2022 · Definition of Russian Formalism. 4. Jul 23, 2018 · The techniques used are highly helpful to communicate some implicit, delicate meanings that would have otherwise remained unveiled in the realm of others. Russian Formalism By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on October 19, 2020 • ( 1). Structuralism was a broader philosophy and critical approach that emerged in the early 20th century. Formalism believes that the structure of the plot depends upon its motivation. ” It would be independent and factual. e. See also Literary Criticism; Literary History; Literature; New 'The Earthquake in Chile' by Heinrich von Kleist. Sep 11, 2023 · The term defamiliarisation originates from Russian Formalism, a literary theory developed in the early 20th century by scholars such as Viktor Shklovsky. It also shows up in many other mediums of artistic expression, such as literature, movies, dance, music, and architecture. What the critic as reader experiences is Structuralist Criticism is a research method, a type of textual research, that literary critics use to interpret texts a genre of discourse employed by literary critics used to share the results of their interpretive efforts. By prioritizing the text's internal characteristics In the following literary theory essay the author has shown several examples of formalism in literature. 5/20/22, 10:28 AM Formalism in Literature - Definition and Examples - Poem Formalism definition: . The formalist approach to literature attempts to study the literary text as an isolated verbal entity. The meaning of FORMALISM is the practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to prescribed or external forms (as in religion or art); also : an instance of this. This method focuses on elements like grammar, narrative techniques, and symbolism to analyze literature, promoting an understanding of how these components contribute to the overall meaning of the work. This approach seeks to analyze how various components such as language, meter, rhyme, and structure contribute to the overall meaning and aesthetic experience of a work. 7 Structuralism often involves the analysis of language, culture, and society to understand the underlying structures that shape them. Sep 26, 2014 · 2. Defining formalism is no fun: either the task devolves into tautology or it stumbles into the rabbit-warren of defining form. In Renaissance poetry, formalism allows readers to Examples of Diction in Literature. A piece of fabric can be the most common, mundane, and everyday thing. This approach emphasizes close reading and analysis of elements like language, imagery, symbolism, and narrative techniques to uncover the meanings and effects created within the work itself. As discussed in An Introduction to Literary Studies (1999), the formalist concerned about literary structure; using phonemic device not the phonetic content. The formalist movement began in England with I. Despite these differences, both Formalism and New Criticism offer valuable insights into the ways in which literature creates meaning and engages readers in a deeper understanding of the text. Reading for Form, edited by Susan J. Eliot's "The Waste Land," which uses a variety of literary techniques, such as Nov 12, 2022 · Formalism is a critical approach that focuses on the form of a text instead of its content and its relationship to the outside world. 61, no. A formalist scholar asserts that everything necessary to evaluate a narrative can be found within the grammatical constructs and literary devices “Formalism” is a term used to describe examples of poetry that utilize a specific form—for example, a consistent rhyme scheme or metrical pattern, such as iambic pentameter. A formalist, with respect to some discipline, holds that there is no transcendent meaning to that discipline other than the literal content created by a practitioner. A pedantic is someone who is concerned with precision, formalism, accuracy, minute details in order to make an arrogant and ostentatious show of learning. Moreover, Richards was an accomplished teacher, and Formalism is an approach that emphasizes the importance of form over content in artistic and literary works. Again, this statement has no real connection to what the author is saying (the meaning) in the story. It can be challenging to pin down a single defamiliarization definition, as defamiliarization in literature can take many forms. Formalism argues that literature is separate from its external contexts as literary language differs from ordinary language which is mainly communicative. All that is left is the underlying Dec 12, 2017 · New Criticism in Literature; Features & Examples - New Criticism, in simple terms, is a critical movement that propagates the idea of 'art for art's sake'. By prioritizing how something is presented, formalism seeks to analyze and appreciate art and literature based on its intrinsic Sep 1, 2023 · Formalism Definition 'Blue Velvet' Credit: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. Defamiliarization Definition. Formalism is a school of literary criticism and literary theory having mainly to do with structural purposes of a particular text. The term “Russian Formalism” was created by scholar Viktor Shklovsky to define one branch of literarily which began at the time around 1917. was ”the most typical novel in world literature”. In literature, writers carefully choose specific words and phrases depending on the outcome they wish to achieve for the reader. It seeks to reinvigorate the study of literature by focusing on the aesthetic and technical elements of texts, challenging the dominance of historical and cultural 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. Jul 7, 2022 · Formalism holds that true meaning can be determined only by analyzing the literary elements of the text and by understanding how these elements work together to form up a cohesive whole. Broadway Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian is an example of formalist art Jan 6, 2025 · "Formalism. Here are seven critical approaches that will enable you to delve deeply into literature. It signifies literature work as a piece of a content that aims to detach fallacious from it. Formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the way it is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world. 3 Russian Formalism. We can use literary criticism to help us resolve a question in the reading, to choose the better of two conflicting readings, or to form judgments about literature. In this view, the aesthetic value of a work is determined primarily by its formal properties rather than its representational Formalism is a literary theory that emphasizes the structural aspects of a text, focusing on its form, style, and technical elements rather than its content or context. " New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Jul 17, 2018 · Russian formalism, as a movement, arose to prominence in a time of great artistic change, where experimentation and the avant-garde rose to the forefront of literature, and introduced new narrative structures and styles. In 1914, the OPOJAZ Society for the Study of Poetic Language was established in St. Formalism is an approach in the arts, especially in film and literature, that emphasizes the technical aspects of a work, such as structure, style, and form, over its content or subject matter. Key Concepts of Italian Formalism: Prioritises elements like rhyme, metre, and literary devices over thematic or contextual elements, often focusing on 'foregrounding Formalism is an approach to art, literature, music, and other forms of creative expression that emphasizes the inherent formal qualities of the work, such as its structure, composition, and use of materials, over its subject matter, emotional content, or social context. " The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism. pdf from ENGLISH 101 at University of Baguio. 1) “that a literary work exists independent of any particular reader-that is, that a literary work exists outside of any reader’s re-creation of it in the act of reading May 23, 2024 · Formalism is a school of literary critical theory that analyzes a text based upon its structural features alone rather than incorporating biographical, socio-political, or interdisciplinary analysis. 2 Or, the new formalism has sought to innovate through the application to literature of ever more ingenious metaphors drawn from other fields - so the literary work is no longer an "organism" but a "machine" or a "network"; literary form is not "static" but "dynamic," "processual. 3. 1 Definition of Formalism. The ambiguity between actual meaning and appearance creates verbal, situational, or dramatic irony in Formalist Criticism and Literary Form total of the signs of an original literary work constitutes a necessarily unique verbal system which testifies to real or vicarious experience and stands in a causal relation to it. It can be done by exploring a method, a scientific basis for the theory of literature. Sep 26, 2018 · The toolbox of literary criticism offers us a variety of ways to tinker with the text until we have a better understanding. “The Theory of the Novel” (1927) by Georg Nov 21, 2023 · Defamiliarization is a term used in literary analysis and criticism. It was founded in 1916 in St. As a result, for much of its history, stylistics has been concerned with the style, and consequent meaning, of literary works. Defamiliarization is one of the helpful stylistic techniques of such kind, and this essay shall analyze examples of defamiliarization and the benefits of its usage. Russian formalism highlights close reading as one of the salient characteristic to explore the inherent meaning of a text. 1970, especially as embodied in the Theory of Literature by René Wellek and Austin Warren (1948, 1955, 1962). Close reading and Russian Formalism. This perspective asserts that the way a story is told is just as important, if not more so, than what the story is about, focusing on elements like visual composition, editing, and sound design to Formalism is not so much a position as an agenda, a disciplinary pressure whose selfless mission is and ever has been to rescue literary study from the all too human propensity to jilt art for the seductions of meaning. Explore Formalism. Nov 21, 2023 · Historicism is a school of thought that proposes that all reality is the product of the evolution of historical events. In each regard, the purest form is often considered the most powerful and poignant. At its extreme, formalism in art history posits that everything necessary to comprehending a work of art is contained within the work of art. Example 2: 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 Formalism focuses on the intrinsic elements of a literary work, such as its form, structure, language, and style. Examples of Formalist Works in Literature, Art, and Music. There are different schools of formalism, including Russian formalism and New Criticism. Glossary of major Formalist literary terms Character—creation and representation of fictional persons and entities What is at stake are not the methods of literary study but the principles upon which literary science should be constructed-its content, the basic object of study, and the problems that organize it as a specific science . This perspective focuses on the structural elements of a piece, such as composition, style, and technique, rather than the context or meaning behind the work. It is a widely used approach to analyzing literature because it emphasizes the importance of understanding the text itself rather than the author’s intentions or the reader’s interpretation. It is the study of a text without Jan 18, 2023 · Introduction. "Russian Formalism. Sep 26, 2024 · Organic Unity in the Formalist Approach emphasizes that every aspect of a literary work should work towards the grander idea of the work. New Criticism By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 30, 2021. tion” with content. When it comes to analyzing literature, there are various critical approaches we can take, and one of the most intriguing is formalism. Literary Devices that Rely on Ambiguity. The term “New Formalism ” is used to describe a specific movement in American poetry that sought to return to its more formal traditions. What Are Some Good Examples of Formalism in Literature? Formalism is a method of criticism which “examines a literary text or artwork through its aesthetic composition such as form, language, technique and style” (Formalism, 2018). May 10, 2023 · A work of literature reflects upon and comments on those mechanisms and codes. Aug 24, 2021 · Formalism : In literary criticism, Formalism refers to a style of inquiry that focuses, almost exclusively, on features of the literary text itself, to the exclusion of biographical, historical, or intellectual contexts. Examples and Case Studies. New historicism is a movement in literary criticism that began in the 1980s Jul 9, 2021 · The Modern Language Association’s famous 2000 issue of the Modern Language Quarterly (MLQ, vol. Dec 1, 2023 · Formalism, however, argues that the aesthetic value of a work lies in its form, such as the use of language in literature, rather than its relation to external factors. Literature, therefore, is emblematic of the time in which it is produced, the culture’s expectations and the education and beliefs of the writer. Shakespeare’s King Lear, in this view, is an important object of lit-erary analysis not for its ideas about human life but for its technical devices. Meyer, in Emotion and Meaning in Music (1956), [1] distinguished "formalists" from what he called "expressionists": "formalists would contend that the meaning of music lies in the perception and understanding of the musical relationships set forth in the work of art and that meaning in music is primarily intellectual, while the expressionist would argue that these same Dec 11, 2023 · 💡These figures collectively shaped New Criticism by emphasizing close textual analysis, the autonomy of literary works, and the significance of formal elements in understanding and interpreting literature. Although the term primarily indicates a way of interpreting rather than making art, certain painters and sculptors May 19, 2022 · View Formalism in Literature - Definition and Examples - Poem Analysis. Formalism is a critical approach in literary theory that emphasizes the structure, style, and form of a text over its content or context. Formalism is a movement of literary theory and criticism that became popular in the twentieth century. This approach zeroes in on the text itself—its structure, style, and language—rather than focusing on external factors like the author's biography or historical context. an artistic or literary style that is more concerned with form (= rules about the arrangement of…. Key Terms: Dialectic; Hermeneutics; Semiotics; Text & Intertextuality; Tone Foundational Questions of Russian Formalism and New Criticism How Method, Meaning, New Formalism 19 of a set of interpretive conventions and expectations. From these foundations, semiotics has become a major tool of literary criticism since it connects the literary text to the “universe of signs” and thus to the network of sign systems that interact to imbue the text with its particular, historically based meanings. Understanding Formalism Through Example It matters most how the work comes to mean what it does and how the resources of the language are used by the writer to convey the meaning; Two Pillars of Formalist Criticism. Defamiliarization By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on March 17, 2016 • ( 5). But not always… Defamiliarization in Literature: Examples. The New Criticism movement in the United States also played a significant role in the development of formalist theory, emphasizing close reading and analysis of the text itself rather than historical or biographical Sep 14, 2023 · 3. A practitioner of formalism is called a formalist. ² This means that when Structuralism is applied to a literary text, it strips the text of its aesthetic form and subjective meaning and reduces it to its bare essentials. The word "form" has many meanings which, as always, cause a lot of confusion. By considering how elements conspire or work together, how conflicts impact characters' actions, and what objects symbolize, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness within the text. Works of literature are informed heavily by the language of the author which can be influenced by a number of factors. May 25, 2023 · Formalism stresses the importance of literary form (organization, structure, and verbal nuances) to the meaning of a work. Formalism Literary Theory - Key takeaways. Key Terms: Dialectic; Hermeneutics; Semiotics; Text & Intertextuality; Tone Structuralism enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s in both European New Formalism in literature refers to a movement that emerged in the late 20th century, emphasizing the formal aspects of literary works such as structure, language, and style. Before we take a look at a couple of examples, some disclaimers. Oct 19, 2020 · Home › Literary Terms and Techniques › Russian Formalism. It means that external agents outside of the text are not taken into consideration. Definition, Usage and a list of Pedantic Examples in literature. Rather, we produce a poetic or literary text by paying In painting, formalism emphasizes compositional elements such as color, line, shape, texture, and other perceptual aspects rather than content, meaning, or the historical and social context. Formalism was the dominant mode of academic literary study in the US at least from the end of the Second World War through the 1970s, especially as embodied in René Wellek and Austin Warren's Theory of Literature (1948, 1955 emphasizing the importance of analysis-driven close readings of literary works. be/9XM1RGqQINoA Brief History of Literary Criticism | A Comprehensive Guide to Literary CriticismWelcome to KDBooks' enthra Formalism seeks to uncover the underlying structure of a text, while New Criticism aims to explore the complexities of a text's meaning. Formalist critics examine a text regardless of its time period, social/political/religious setting, and author’s background. Formalism deals with the form and function of literature. 5. "3 The tendency of formalism to move in this direction May 1, 2023 · Formalism also influenced the development of postmodernism, which emphasized the fragmentation and deconstruction of traditional forms and structures. "Form and Formalism. Deviation as Vital Word in Formalism for Definition of Literature. Irony occurs when a word or event indicates something different than—and contradictory to—its actual meaning. Diction is the literary device that refers to these linguistic word choices and their artistic arrangement by a writer. This scientific method of dealing with the literary piece is the basis of Russian Formalism. Certain literary devices, particularly irony and puns, rely on ambiguity to be effective. Structuralism Russian formalism’s intense interest in the major questions informing the practice of literary criticism (i. " Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. All the things about culture, politics, and the author’s intent or societal influences are excluded from formalism. A. John Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn Keats' masterpiece reveals his attention to literary form, especially through its beauty awakened by the sounds of the words he uses and their individual semantic meaning, thus dissolving the barriers between sense and Jun 22, 2023 · Video Referenced // https://youtu. Here are some real-life examples to help you understand New Criticism: Example 1: Analyzing a Song Formalism introduction to formalism here: home english summary youtube back to: literary theory in english literature The meaning of FORMALISM is the practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to prescribed or external forms (as in religion or art); also : an instance of this. FORMALISM definition: 1. It began in two groups: OPOYAZ, an acronym for Russian words meaning Society for the Study of Poetic Language, founded in 1916 at St. May 8, 2022 · In his book Literary Theory (1983), T erry Eagleton says that Structuralism represents a ‘remorseless demystification of literature’. ” Jul 26, 2023 · New criticism, part of the formalist movement in America in the 1920s, argues critics analyzing a work of literature do not need to take into account biographical, historical, or other contextual factors surrounding the work. Here are some examples of diction in literature: Formalism in Literature: Definition, Meaning, and Characteristics • Formalism is a branch of literary theory and criticism which deals with the structures of text. Mar 17, 2016 · Home › Uncategorized › Defamiliarization. The first piece of literature I grabbed my hands on was ‘The earthquake in Chile’. The Formalism definition is not just limited to the world of popular paintings. S. 1, March 2000) to which Aubrey refers is dedicated to new formalism and advocates formalism as the correct underpinning of literary theory (also published as Reading for Form (Dubrow, Heather, et al. (Eichenbaum, in Russian Formalist Criticism For example, formalism is concerned with the use of grammar and syntax, and meter in poetry. In Russian, it is known as “ostranenie” (остранение), which can be roughly translated as “making strange” or “estrangement. Formalism in film and TV refers to an artistic approach that emphasizes the aesthetic and technical elements of the medium, often prioritizing visual style, composition, and sensory experiences over conventional narrative structures. The term formalism describes an emphasis on form over content or meaning in the arts, literature, or philosophy. Apr 3, 2024 · It was influenced by the Russian Formalist movement, which focused on the study of literary devices and techniques in literature. Literary critics in the semiotic tradition typically extend the literary text These two excerpts highlight the aims of Formalism: to analyse the elements of literary works and the interrelated concern of charting the role of the literary scholar. It emphasizes the importance of analyzing these elements in isolation from the author's intentions or historical context. Richard's Practical Criticism. Oct 8, 2024 · In the field of literary criticism, a formalist approach is one that studies a text as a text and nothing more. of visual art. Russian Formalism, a movement of literary criticism and interpretation, emerged in Russia during the second decade of the twentieth century and remained active until about 1930. 2 Characteristics of Formalism. Examples of formalist works in literature include T. Formalism relies heavily on symbolism and use of language in attempting to glean meaning from a literary text. Dec 17, 2024 · Introduction to Formalism. Dec 13, 2024 · Formalism in literature is a critical and artistic movement that emerged in the early 20th century, primarily in Europe and North America. However, formalism, or the concept of strict literary formalism, has often been attacked by individual literary critics or schools of criticism on the May 11, 2020 · Remember that literature is more than a sum of its parts, which means that a quality text should inspire more meanings than what its words allow. Petersburg. New Criticism is a movement in 20th-century literary criticism that arose in reaction to those traditional “extrinsic” approaches that saw a text as making a moral or philosophical statement or as an outcome of social, economic, political, historical, or biographical phenomena. The earthquake in Chile is a saga depicting how destructive are the powers of nature by the virtue of setting a backdrop in the year of 1647, the year in which the great and devastating Santiago Earthquake unfortunately took away the lives of millions wherein Aug 23, 2024 · Literary Theory: Formalism’s principles continue to shape literary theory, inspiring new approaches like post-structuralism and deconst ruction. A strictly formalist critic would, for example, approach The Great Gatsby as a structure of words, ignoring the details of Fitzgerald’s life and the social and historical contexts of the novel. Jun 6, 2024 · Russian formalism emerged in the context of early 20th-century Russia, heavily influenced by linguistic theory and semiotics, while Anglo-American New Criticism arose later in the United States, emphasizing close textual analysis and internal coherence as the basis for literary interpretation. Wolfson and Marshall Brown, University of Washington Formalism may refer to: Form Formal Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary Formalism Scientific formalism Formalism, that there is no transcendent meaning to a discipline other than the literal content created by a practitioner Religious formalism, an emphasis on the ritual and observance of Dec 6, 2021 · Literary Formalism. Russian formalism is a literary theory that can help you better understand literature in a new way. Oct 27, 2023 · Formalism is an interesting literary theory because it tends to divorce literary texts from their environment and analyze them as standalone entities. The formalist approach is a method of literary criticism that focuses on the structure, style, and form of a text rather than its content or context. 'Structuralism. See examples of FORMALISM used in a sentence. The Russian Formalists’ concept of “Defamiliarization”, proposed by Viktor Shklovsky in his Art as Technique, refers to the literary device whereby language is used in such a way that ordinary and familiar objects are made to look different. • Formalism refers to a style of inquiry that focuses, almost exclusively, on features of the literary text itself, to the exclusion of biographical, historical, or intellectual contexts • New Criticism, incorporating Formalism, examines the relationships between a text's ideas and its form, between what a text says and the way it says it • New Criticism attempts to be a science of Nov 21, 2023 · The meaning of the New Criticism theory is to analyze and find meaning within literature by utilizing just the text, rather than considering any influence or intentions the author or the May 18, 2018 · The Anglo-Saxon New Criticism was not influenced by formalism, but the obvious points of convergence between the two schools, comparable to the affinities among formalism, structuralism, and semiotics, clearly point to the universality, vitality, and significance of formalist ideas. Formalism is a type of literary criticism that focuses on the structure, style, and language of a work of literature. The name "Formalism" derives from one of The central tenets of Formalist thought: That the form of a work of literature is Below are two examples of how formalism is used in literature to create beauty through form. An important type of formalism that relates directly to the work of the Society for the Study of Poetic Language. Therefore, using the formalist theory will help to analyze the elements of the poem in order to look its effect in the meaning of the poem. In literature, the aspects of Formalism emerged in the early 20 th century, around the same time as Russian Formalism. " In focusing on the text itself ("close reading"), New Critics intentionally ignore the author, the reader, and the social context. The literary scholar was not to fiddle with the contiguous disciplines of psychology or history rather should be devoted towards developing a methodology of literary criticism Russian Formalism and New Criticism is a research method, a type of textual research, that literary critics use to interpret textsa genre of discourse employed by literary critics used to share the results of their interpretive efforts. , what makes a literary work literary) greatly influenced other critical schools that emerged in Europe. Two schools of formalist literary criticism developed, Russian formalism, and soon after Anglo-American New Criticism. Formalism was the dominant mode of academic literary study in the United States, at least from the end of World War II until the 1950s. Learn more. Formalism pronunciation: for-muhl-ehh-zum. What matters in literature is not meaning but the literary techniques, devices, and procedures that writers use. . May 30, 2021 · Home › Literature › New Criticism. Nov 21, 2023 · The following formalism art examples were either painted by formalists or highly valued according to formalist principles. They included: Wanting to produce a “science of literature. Its themes of family betrayal and personal failure are Richards' books, especially The Meaning of Meaning, Principles of Literary Criticism, Practical Criticism, and The Philosophy of Rhetoric, were seminal documents not only for the development of New Criticism, but also for the fields of semiotics, the philosophy of language, and linguistics. The formalist advocated for several basic ideas around literature. Feb 23, 2023 · Formalism Definition in Other Arts. Petersburg, which emphasized a more analytical and conventional approach to poetry and literary devices. "New Criticism. The word ‘Formalism’ is derived from the central belief of the Formalists approach. It is characterized by a focus on the formal or structural elements of literature, such as language, syntax, and form, rather than the themes, ideas, or characters. The Formalists saw literary language as a set of deviations from a norm, a kind of linguistic violence: literature is a special' kind of language, in contrast to the 'ordinary' lan-guage and commonly use. Instead, everything that is needed to understand a text is included within the text. Formalism is a critical and creative position which holds that an artwork's value lies in the relationships it establishes between different compositional elements such as color, line, and texture, which ought to be considered apart from all notions of subject-matter or context. Italian Formalism Examples: Examples include examining the metre of a poem, the syntax in a novel, and the arrangement of scenes in a play to understand their structural elements. Petersburg (later Leningrad) and led by Viktor Shklovsky; and the Moscow Linguistic Circle, founded in 1915. Typically, considering literary forms important while eliminating superfluous perspectives, Formalists endeavor to trace the developmental evolution of different The term formalism describes an emphasis on form over content or meaning in the arts, literature, or philosophy. Formalism is a form of literary criticism that focuses on a text’s use Formalism literary theory emphasizes the intrinsic structure and form of a literary work, focusing on elements such as language, style, and literary devices rather than external factors like historical or biographical context. The system as literature is, however, a ground and not a product of experience. Leonard B. Russian Formalism. 3 Thus, we do not “recognize a poem” – recognize that something is a poem – by observ-ing certain distinguishing linguistic features shared by literary but not non-literary texts. 1 - 10 Incredible Poetry Facts Part 1. How to use formalism in a sentence. The formalist approach to poetry was the most influential in American criticism during the 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s, and it is still often practiced in literature courses in colleges and . Formalism, innovative 20th-century Russian school of literary criticism. Richards asked students to interpret famous poems without telling them the poet's names. 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. For example, a formalist reading of a poem would focus on its rhythms, rhymes FORMALISM meaning: 1. mthhtm yjsmhgco cwei ysbgerj wgxl xggvai fjkl oqwvc jwjiwn tul