Art as technique by viktor shklovsky 1916 sternes tristram shandy. Shklovsky brings out that there comes a point were perceptions become habitual thus becoming. Shklovsky spends some time discussing other accounts of art that people before him have. The technique of art is to make objects unfamiliar, to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Victor shklovosky, a founder of the opayaz group in russia, occupies a significant position in russian formalism by introducing his literary concept of art as. Viktor shklovsky art as technique 1917 shklovsky, viktor.
Defamiliarization or ostranenie is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common. As shklovsky phrased it later, in the sixties,defamiliarization shows an object outside the habitual sequence. The swiss mountains are beautiful t s m a b algebraic method complete words are not expressed in rapid speech by this algebraic method of thought, we apprehend objects only as shapes with precise extensions. Shklovsky is perhaps best known for developing the concept of ostranenie or defamiliarization also translated as estrangement in literature. Why does shklovsky refer the economy of energy, algebraalgebrazation etc. The term defamiliarization was first coined in 1917 by russian formalist viktor shklovsky in his essay art as device alternate translation. In his essay art as technique, viktor shklovsky tries to highlight the concept of. Victor shklovsky, art as technique born in 1893, victor shklovsky was a leading figure in the school of literary and linguistic theory known as russian formalism, which flourished at the time. Art as technique 1917 is the most important statement made of early formalist method, partly because it announces a break with the only other a. The definition of estrangement first appeared in print in shklovskys essay art as device iskusstvo kak priem i n. Viktor shklovsky, in full viktor borisovich shklovsky, born january 24 january 12, old style, 1893, st.
The first thing to say is that shklovsky is one of the few contributors to this volume whose name i had not encountered before. Men like viktor shklovsky exist in order to help students understand art as. Shklovsky was made to retract many of his formalist statements and genuinely reconsidered some of his ideas. Art as technique by viktor shklovsky as i started reading this article, the concept that stood out to me the most and in an immediate way, was this concept of the algebraic method. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. The technique of art is to make things unfamiliar, to make forms obscure, so as to increase the difficulty and the duration of perception. Art as technique by victor shklovsky bachelorandmaster. Art as device, and device when it works as miracle or, the. Nov 21, 2011 shklovsky proposed art as technique in 1917, which was one of theprimary documents of russian formalism. Viktor shklovskys 189 31984 c oncept of ostranenie, or estrangement,1 has become part of the basic vocabulary of literary theory and is familiar even to those who know little about its origins in russian formalism.
Victor shklovsky author of zoo or letters not about love. Shklovsky points out that what we perceive on a daily basis often becomes habitual and thus, becomes automatic. Third factory is an autobiographical work arguably not fiction at all, though billed as a novel. According to shklovsky, habituation is the idea of doing something unconsciously all the time. This maxim, which even high school students parrot, is nevertheless the starting point. By doing this, writers force readers not to just gloss over them and instead, to dwell on them and consider them in a certain way. This process of algebrization or overautomatization of an object enables the reduction of perceptive efforts. Victor shklovsky quotes author of zoo or letters not about love. Jun 11, 2014 indeed, this was the concern of viktor shklovskys critical work. Victor shklovsky, art as technique born in 1893, victor shklovsky was a leading figure in the school of literary and linguistic theory known as russian formalism, which flourished at the time of the russian revolution.
Petersburg he established the society for the study of poetic language. Shklovsky and modernism shklovsky and modernism research papers discuss how art as a technique makes the familiar into the unfamiliar. But he never stopped fervently believing what he said in two related articles written in his early twenties, resurrection of the word and art, as devicethat art is our memento. Sep 01, 2015 art is a means to make things real again. In his wellread essay art as technique which is also known as art as device, shklovsky argues that literariness is simply the product of a particular use of language it is our language of the everyday defamiliarized. This maxim, which even highschool students parrot, is nevertheless the starting point for the erudite philologist who is beginning to put together some kind of. Shklovsky wrote his essay art as technique in 1917, a significant year in russian history. Shklovsky explains that the technique of art is, the process of making objects different and difficult. Jun 03, 2012 victor shklovsky, art as technique born in 1893, victor shklovsky was a leading figure in the school of literary and linguistic theory known as russian formalism, which flourished at the time.
Htmlgiant blog archive viktor shklovsky wants to make you. Johann stoll caracas, november 2011 slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Art as technique 209 shklovsky invented the term as a means to distinguish poetic from practical language on the basis of the formers perceptibility. Thus, for example, all of our habits retreat into the area of the unconsciously automatic. If we start to examine the general laws of perception, we see that as perception becomes habitual, it becomes automatic. The technique of art is to make objects unfamiliar, to make forms difficult to increase the difficulty and. One of the founders of the formalist movement in literary criticism, his seminal works include art as method 1917, theory of prose 1925, third factory 1926, classic studies of tolstoy and mayakovsky, and a memoir of the russian civilwar era, a sentimental journey. Viktor shklovsky had said that art has the same device which is being repeated again and again but it only gives a stale taste. Nabrosok p m y j recent russian poetry, sketch 11 prague, 1921, p.
Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was both patriarch and enfant terrible of formalism, a literary and film scholar, a fiction writer and the protagonist of other peoples novels, instructor of an armored division and professor at the art history institute, revolutionary and counterrevolutionary. Art as technique, victor shklovsky by katerina hipotesis. The lemon and reis volume consists of four important essays. Victor shklovsky was born in st, petersburg, russia, on 12th january, 1893. Sep 03, 2009 in art as technique, victor shklovsky explains the concept of defamiliarization. He was a major voice of formalism, a critical school that had great influence in russian literature in the 1920s. This title is sometimes translated as art as technique.
The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. He also said that art is being exploited but with no new devices and techniques. He explained the concept in 1917 in the important essay art as technique also translated as art as device which comprised the first chapter of his seminal theory of prose, first published in 1925. Aug 20, 2010 this is what i mean when i call him artless. The third factory of the title is what shklovsky sees as the third significant stage of his life. Art as technique by victor shklovsky his emphasis lies on the exploration of new literary techniques and devices in a work of art for its renewed perception and literariness. It begins with a literal account of the above paragraph. Art as technique shklovsky, 1917 viktor shlovsky begins this essay by stating that as perception becomes habitual, it becomes unconsciously automatic. E 205 viktor shklovsky art as technique 1 of 20 art as technique viktor shklovsky this version, translated by lee t. And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life.
Art as a technique went againstaesthetic theories especially potebnyan because they considered that a textdoes not have a prescribed effect. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object. Russian literary language, which was originally foreign to russia, has so. Arts purpose is to give us the sensation of a thing as seeing rather than as recognizing. A key concept of russian formalism in the 1920s, shklovskys claim that art makes the world strange ostranenie is now almost universally. With a series of landmark papers, he taught generations of readers that, in the art of literature, content simply doesnt matter. Shklovskys bestknown work, which is also one of the best accounts of ostranenie available, is o teorii prozy 1929, translated as theory of prose 1990. There is indeed such a thing as order in art, but not a single column of a greek temple fulfills its order perfectly, and artistic rhythm may be said to exist in the rhythm of prose disrupted. Petersburg, russiadied december 8, 1984, moscow, russian literary critic and novelist. Shklovsky and modernism research papers are custom written. Viktor shklovsky theory of prose translated by benjamin sher with an introduction by gerald l.
Viktor shklovsky, author of zoo, or letters not about love, on librarything. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Troubling binaries in shklovskys art as technique in his essay art as technique, victor shklovsky proposes the process of defamiliarization as a method of creating art and viewing reality in order to challenge the traditional understanding of poetry and imagery as quickly comprehensible. This maxim, which even high school students parrot, is nevertheless the starting point for the erudite philologist who is beginning to put together some kind of systematic literary theory. In art, it is our experience of the process of construction that counts, not the finished product. Shklovsky s art as technique iskusstvo kak priemn, shklovsky on sternes tristram shandy, tomashevskys thematics, and eikhenbaums the theory of the 176. Nov 06, 2012 20 formalisms shklovsky, art as technique 21 and at just that spot, to hide this putrefying body, swarming with maggots, in its new now, having explained the nature of this technique, let us try to determine the uniform and clean boots, and to cover it over completely with dirt. Sep 09, 20 shklovskys art as technique presents two very important ideas. V iktor shklovskys name has become synonymous with the russian formalist movement that he helped to found in the early decades of the 20 th century. He gives the example of tolstoy and the idea of flogging.
Learn british accents and dialects cockney, rp, northern, and more. The concept of ostranenie, coined by shklovsky, is now almost a century old. 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. In fact, life is reckoned as nothing 16 because we perceive everything continue reading continue reading 10. Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was one of the foremost literary critics and theorists of the 20th century. Shklovsky wrote about literature and influenced a generation of young writers in russia. Sections of it, especially the key essay art as device, were translated in the 1970s, and circulated very widely. Here he refers to things we do in everyday life and that are repetitive. In this essay, he discusses defamiliarization or estrangement, which is a form of writing that.
Viktor shklovsky 18931984 was both patriarch and enfant terrible of formalism, a literary and film scholar, a fiction writer and the protagonist of other peoples novels, instructor of an armoured division and professor at the art history institute, revolutionary and counterrevolutionary. Shklovsky objects to the now widespread view, advanced in particular by a russian critic. It is a concept that i can relate to as i experience it in my daily life. In art as technique, shlovksy addresses the ways in which people. Get an answer for in his essay art as technique, viktor shklovsky tries to highlight the concept of defamiliarization. Art as technique shklovsky free download as word doc. Shklovsky brings out that there comes a point were perceptions become habitual thus becoming unconsciously automatic. These ideas, expressed by a very young and polemically minded viktor shklovsky almost a hundred years ago, are as relevant today as ever. His work was deeply informed by his long and eventful life. Born in 1893, victor shklovsky was a leading figure in the school of literary and linguistic theory known as russian. Shklovskys art as technique presents two very important ideas.
From what i understood, this term refers to the most important aspects of an issue can really be any issue and emphasizes that we tend to focus on what we. Art, as device poetics today duke university press. Apr 10, 2016 defamiliarisation as a theoretical motif certainly didnt have its genesis in viktor shklovskys 1917 essay art as technique, but he was certainly one of the first to distil the concept from art and crystallise it as a useful framework for future investigations. Shklovsky objects to the now widespread view, advanced in particular by a russian critic and theorist named alexander potebnya in his notes on the theory of language 1905, that. He refutes the theory of the work of art as an art that exploits no more new devices and techniques. The act of perception in art is an end in itself and must be prolonged. Petersburg, where shklovsky was the leader of the opayaz group. In his arguably unfinished piece, art as technique, soviet writer victor shklovsky makes a leading case for defamiliarization in art. Victor shklovsky art as technique art is thinking in images. Viktor shklovskys art as technique was an extremely interesting read. Sep 11, 2012 art as a technique by viktor shklovsky. After finishing his education at the university of st. Viktor was a critic and a literary theorist who was a russian and he was also a good writer.
In this process, everyday processes and concepts are presented in a way that makes them seem unfamiliar. Indeed, routines become so repetitive that i do things. Art and literature are difficult to interpret,therefore students need to look towards the experts in order to understand art criticism. A readers letter lugejakiri to viktor shklovsky about his concept of making strange in relation with herbert spencers account of the economy of mental energy.
Get an answer for how could you link the essay art as technique by victor shklovsky to literature to show the presence of defamiliarization in literature and find homework help for other. Russian formalism and defamiliarization on world literature. Explain with examples and also try to give the example from literature. The technique of art is to make an object unfamiliar, to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. How could you link the essay art as technique by victor. As viktor shklovsky put it in his great essay art as device. In a few special instances the language of poetry approximates the language of prose, but this does not violate the principle of the roughened form shlovsky. Keywords ostranenie, defamiliarization, estrangement, deautomatization, foregrounding translating art, as device there has been no textological work on art as devicenaiman 1998. In form and content it is very much a product of its times, shaped by a russia violently shaken by revolution. September 10, 2014 regular entry art, shklovsky, technique radwa in his work, shklovsky states that, the language of poetry, is, then, a difficult, roughened, impeded language. Art as technique by victor shklovsky victor shklovosky, a founder of the opayaz group in russia, occupies a significant position in russian formalism by introducing his literary concept of art as technique, thereby making the notion of defamiliarization as a central tenet of the russian formalism. Art as technique 1917 viktor shklovsky art is thinking in images. But i note that he is one of the russian formalists, and in all the general surveys of theory ive read, the formalists tend to be lumped together as a group, so that may be why.
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