Literary Research: Formalism

"Formalism refers to the critical tendency that emerged during the first half of the twentieth century and devoted its attention to concentrating on literature's formal structures in an objective manner... There are three critical movements that represent a formalist approach to literature. The first movement is Russian Formalism, from the 1910s to the 1930s (which, when suppressed by the Soviets in the 1930s, was continued by members of the Prague Linguistic Circle). The second is the New Criticism, which emphasized close reading, dominant in British and American education. The third movement is Structuralism, a dominant trend in mid-century France."

Brief Overviews:

• "Formalism." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas.
• "Form and Formalism." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature.
• "Russian Formalism." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism.
• "New Criticism." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism.
• 'Structuralism." The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism.

See also: Structuralism and Semiotics