Art as technique by viktor shklovsky poetry scribd. Viktor shklovsky theory of prose translated by benjamin sher with an introduction by gerald l. Shklovsky brings out that there comes a point were perceptions become habitual thus becoming. Art makes language strange, as well as the world that the language presents. 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.
Thus, for example, all of our habits retreat into the area of the unconsciously automatic. Formalist according to shklovsky, the chief technique for promoting such perception. He gives the example of tolstoy and the idea of flogging. He argued that defamiliarization is, more or less, the point of all art. Summary of art as technique by viktor shklovsky ask for details. This maxim, which even high school students parrot, is nevertheless the starting point. By works of art, in the narrow sense, we mean works created by special techniques designed to make the works as obviously artistic as possible. 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. Johann stoll caracas, november 2011 slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. This process of algebrization or overautomatization of an object enables the reduction of perceptive efforts. 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 per ception is. He refutes the theory of the work of art as an art that exploits no more new devices and techniques. 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 device poetics today duke university press.
In art as technique, shlovksy addresses the ways in which people. These ideas, expressed by a very young and polemically minded viktor shklovsky almost a hundred years ago, are as relevant today as ever. The russian formalist, victor shklovsky, reinterprets. Art as technique by victor shklovsky bachelorandmaster. The word defamiliarization was coined by the early 20thcentury russian literary critic viktor shklovsky in his essay art as technique. Sections of it, especially the key essay art as device, were translated in the 1970s, and circulated very widely. If we start to examine the general laws of perception, we see that as perception becomes habitual, it becomes automatic. Viktor shklovskys art as technique was an extremely interesting read.
Form, rather, is where its atthe defining feature of the literary work and the singular determinant of its. Shklovsky wrote his essay art as technique in 1917, a significant year in russian history. Petersburg, russiadied december 8, 1984, moscow, russian literary critic and novelist. And art exists that one may recover the sensation of life. E 205 viktor shklovsky art as technique 1 of 20 art as technique viktor shklovsky this version, translated by lee t. 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. Arnold schwarzenegger this speech broke the internet and most inspiring speech it changed my life. Shklovsky was made to retract many of his formalist statements and genuinely reconsidered some of his ideas. Art as technique shklovsky free download as word doc. In attempting to shklovwky the notion of private property, the horse contemplates how and why private property exists, concluding that it seems wrong. Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object. In this essay, he discusses defamiliarization or estrangement, which is a form of writing that. 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. Art, from shklovskys perspective, is a broad subject and can lead to multiple accusations.
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. Viktor shklovsky, in full viktor borisovich shklovsky, born january 24 january 12, old style, 1893, st. It zs not so much a device as a result obtainable by any number of devices. In victor shklovskys article, art as technique, shklovsky argues, art is thinking in images. Shklovsky explains that the technique of art is, the process of making objects different and difficult. In his essay art as technique, viktor shklovsky tries to highlight the concept of. In the early and influential art as technique 1917, from which ive just quoted, shklovsky distinguishes between literary or poetic language, manifestly formed and therefore difficult, and prose, practical language of necessity economical, easy, proper.
Shklovskys purpose in arguing this interpretation is because he generalizes art to broaden its viewers horizons of how it can be interpreted. In his arguably unfinished piece, art as technique, soviet writer victor shklovsky makes a leading case for defamiliarization in art. Defamiliarization by nasrullah mambrol on march 17, 2016 4 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. 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. Art as technique shklovsky, 1917 viktor shlovsky begins this essay by stating that as perception becomes habitual, it becomes unconsciously automatic. In his essay art as technique, viktor shklovsky tries to. In the early and influential art as technique 1917, from which ive just quoted, shklovsky distinguishes between literary or poetic language, manifestly. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. His work was deeply informed by his long and eventful life. Refamiliarizing viktor shklovsky cambridge university press. Art as technique, victor shklovsky by katerina hipotesis. The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known.
Third factory viktor shklovsky art as technique, dalkey archive presspp. Petersburg, where shklovsky was the leader of the opayaz group. 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. The definition of estrangement first appeared in print in shklovskys essay art as device iskusstvo kak priem i n. He was a major voice of formalism, a critical school that had great influence in russian literature in the 1920s.
Shklovskys art as technique almost exclusively in relation to. The concept of ostranenie, coined by shklovsky, is now almost a century old. Born in 1893, victor shklovsky was a leading figure in the school of literary and linguistic theory known as russian. With a series of landmark papers, he taught generations of readers that, in the art of literature, content simply doesnt matter. A key concept of russian formalism in the 1920s, shklovskys claim that art makes the world strange ostranenie is now almost universally. 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. 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. 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.
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