Readings in Russian Poetics: Formalist and Structuralist Views

by Ladislav Matejka (Editor), Krystyna Pomorska (Editor), Gerald L Bruns (Introduction)

Overview

Investigating the conceptualisation of structure and form within literature, the Russian Formalists affected both the creation of art during the 1920s and 1930s and the development of literary theory as a scientific discipline. Crucial to the understanding of this theoretical movement, this collection of essays by and about the Russian Formalists features work by: - Boris M. Eichenbaum ("The Theory of the Formal Method") - Viktor Shklvosky ("The Mystery Novel: Dickens's Little Dorrit") - Roman Jakobson ("On Realism in Art") - Mikhail Bakhtin ("Discourse Typology in Prose") - Osip M. Brik ("Contributions to the Study of Verse Language") A new introduction by Gerald L. Bruns provides a context for understanding why these works remain as important and influential now as when they were first written.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781564783240
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Series:	Russian Literature
Edition description:	1ST DALKEY
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	5.58(w) x 8.48(h) x 0.88(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ladislav Matejka is Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

The late Krystyna Pomorska, Roman Jacobson's widow, was Professor of Slavic, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Gerald L. Bruns is William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. His books include Hermeneutics Ancient and Modern and Heidegger's Estrangements: Language, Truth, and Poetry in the Later Writings.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	vii
	Preface	xx
Part I
	The Theory of the Formal Method	3
	On Realism in Art	38
	Literature and Biography	47
	Literary Environment	56
	On Literary Evolution	66
	Problems in the Study of Literature and Language	79
	The Dominant	82
Part II
	On the Boundary between Studies of Folklore and Literature	91
	Fairy Tale Transformations	94
Part III
	Contributions to the Study of Verse Language	117
	Rhythm as the Constructive Factor of Verse	126
	The Meaning of the Word in Verse	136
Part IV
	Reported Speech	149
	Discourse Typology in Prose	176
Part V
	Afanasij Nikitin's Journey Beyond the Three Seas as a Work of Literature	199
	The Mystery Novel: Dickens's Little Dorrit	220
	O. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story	227
Part VI
	Russian Formalism in Retrospect	273
	The Formal Method and Linguistics	281
	Index	297

What People are Saying About This

Prairie Schooner

Readings in Russian Poetics is a valuable contribution to the understanding of an exceptionally influential critical movement. Although only scattered bits of the Russian Formalists' work have been generally available to American readers, their work....profoundly influenced linguistic studies here and in Europe and literary studies in Europe.

Editorial Reviews

"A valuable contribution to the understanding of an exceptionally influential critical movement."--Prairie Schooner

Dalkey Archive Press

From the Publisher

In its early years Formalism went hand in hand with the avant-garde movement in Russian literature called Futurism.....Its members were determined to examine literature almost in vacuo at first in their attempt to 'rescue' literature from biographical and various culturally (extra literally) oriented approaches. The result is that they were among the earliest critics to rely first on the text itself.

Modern Language Journal