Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Victor Shklovsky (1893–1984) was a pioneering Russian literary theorist, critic, and writer, best known as a leading figure in the Russian Formalist movement. His work revolutionized the study of literature by shifting focus from content to form, arguing that the techniques of storytelling and language itself were the true essence of art. One of his most influential contributions was the concept of defamiliarization (ostranenie in Russian), which posited that art should make the familiar seem strange, forcing readers to perceive the world anew. In his seminal essay Art as Technique (1917), Shklovsky contended that habitual perception dulls our experience, and literature’s role is to disrupt automatic responses through innovative language and structure. This idea became foundational for modernist and avant-garde aesthetics, influencing later movements like structuralism and narratology.
Beyond his theoretical work, Shklovsky was a dynamic figure in early Soviet intellectual circles. He co-founded the OPOJAZ (Society for the Study of Poetic Language), a key group within Russian Formalism that included thinkers like Yuri Tynianov and Boris Eikhenbaum. His writings, such as Theory of Prose (1925), analyzed narrative techniques, dismantling conventional storytelling to expose its underlying mechanics.
Art as Technique:
Victor Shklovsky's essay Art as Technique (1917) is a foundational text of Russian Formalism, introducing key concepts about the purpose and mechanics of art. The term "defamiliarization" was first coined in 1917 by Russian formalist Viktor Shklovsky in this essay.
Defamiliarization:
Shklovsky argues that the primary function of art is to make the familiar unfamiliar—a process he calls defamiliarization. Everyday perception leads to habitual, automatic recognition, causing objects and experiences to lose their vividness. Art disrupts this automatization by presenting things in strange, unexpected ways, forcing the audience to see them anew. For example, in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915), Gregor Samsa waking up as a giant insect is a radical defamiliarization of the human body, forcing readers to reconsider alienation, labor, and family dynamics.
John Donne’s The Flea (published 1633) is a brilliant example of defamiliarization, using an absurd, unexpected metaphor to challenge conventional attitudes toward love, sex, and persuasion. The poem’s central conceit—comparing a flea bite to sexual union—forces readers to see physical intimacy in a radically new (and unsettling) way. The speaker argues that because a flea has bitten both him and his lover, their blood is already mingled inside it, making their union as natural (and insignificant) as the insect’s bite.
"This flea is you and I, and this / Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is."
By equating a flea’s body to a "marriage bed", Donne strips sex of its societal taboos, rendering it mundane and biological. The flea becomes a "marriage temple", blending religious solemnity with the grotesque. This defamiliarizes both sex (usually shrouded in secrecy) and marriage (a sacred institution) by reducing them to a shared flea bite. When the woman crushes the flea, the speaker shifts tactics, now arguing that her act of killing it was meaningless—just as sex would be. Donne’s defamiliarization in The Flea doesn’t just entertain—it destabilizes. The poem’s bizarre metaphor compels readers to confront the disconnect between natural desire and artificial social codes. By making the familiar (sex, persuasion) strange (a flea’s bite), Donne reveals how arbitrary human taboos can be.
Art vs. Practical Language
In the essay, Victor Shklovsky distinguishes artistic and practical language. Practical (or ordinary) language serves a communicative, utilitarian purpose, but artistic language is deliberately constructed to be difficult, opaque, and layered. Shklovsky contrasts poetic language with practical language: while the latter seeks efficiency, the former slows down perception through complexity, rhythm, and unusual imagery. Art is not about conveying meaning easily but about making the process of perception an aesthetic experience in itself.
Technique Over Content
In the essay, Shklovsky shifts focus from what art represents to how it is constructed. Form and technique—not themes or emotions—are the essence of art. Devices like metaphor, repetition, and fragmentation are not decorative but serve to intensify perception. For instance, in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, the disrupted narrative structure forces the reader to engage with form rather than passively consume a story.
Because habitual perception dulls experience, art’s role is to restore the intensity of sensation. By breaking conventions, art makes the world feel alive again. Shklovsky compares this to the sensation of walking on uneven ground after moving mechanically on smooth pavement—art reintroduces friction to perception.
Theory of Prose (1925):
Victor Shklovsky's Theory of Prose (1925) revolutionized literary theory by shifting focus from content to form, establishing key principles of Russian Formalism. The work argues that art's primary purpose is to disrupt automatic perception through deliberate techniques that make the familiar strange. This concept, which Shklovsky termed ostranenie (defamiliarization), suggests that habitual exposure renders our experience of reality dull and unexamined. Literature counters this by employing various devices that force readers to engage with the world anew, whether through unconventional metaphors, fragmented narratives, or exaggerated descriptions. For Shklovsky, art is not about conveying meaning efficiently but about making perception an active, conscious process.
Story and Plot (Content and Technique)
A central distinction in Theory of Prose is between fabula (story) and syuzhet (plot). The fabula refers to the raw chronological events of a narrative, while the syuzhet is the artistic arrangement of those events. Shklovsky emphasizes that literary artistry lies not in the events themselves but in how they are structured and presented. Techniques such as nonlinear storytelling, digressions, and repetition are not mere stylistic choices but essential strategies to prevent passive consumption. For example, Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy subverts traditional narrative progression through constant interruptions and self-referential commentary, thereby drawing attention to the constructed nature of storytelling.
Importance of Literary Devices:
Shklovsky also explores the idea of literary devices (priem) as the fundamental building blocks of art. These devices—including parallelism, delay, and parody—are not decorative additions but the very mechanisms that distinguish artistic language from practical communication. By foregrounding these techniques, literature prevents automatized reading and reinvigorates the reader's engagement. Parody, in particular, serves as a means of revitalizing stale conventions by mocking and dismantling them, thereby paving the way for innovation. Shklovsky's analysis extends to a critique of Symbolism and Realism, rejecting the notion that art should prioritize hidden meanings or mirror reality. Instead, he argues that even realist works rely on artificial devices to shape perception, as seen in Gogol's exaggerated portrayals of bureaucratic absurdity.
Evolving Literary Forms:
The evolution of literary forms, according to Shklovsky, is driven by the need to avoid automatization. As certain techniques become predictable, new genres and styles emerge to challenge conventions. This process, which he calls the "canonization of the junior branch," involves the elevation of previously marginal forms—such as detective fiction or folk tales—to refresh mainstream literature. Shklovsky's theory also highlights the materiality of language itself, particularly in poetry, where sound, rhythm, and ambiguity take precedence over straightforward meaning. This focus on the sensory and structural aspects of language underscores his belief that art's value lies in its ability to disrupt and renew perception.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the theory of literary criticism. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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