This episode offers a definitive introduction to Formalism, the literary theory that insists on reading literature as a self-contained verbal artefact. Moving away from authorial biography, historical background, and moral judgement, Formalist critics redirected attention to the internal structure of the text—its language, form, and technical devices—laying the foundations of modern literary criticism.
The episode explores both significant strands of formalism: Russian Formalism and Anglo-American New Criticism. It explains key concepts such as literariness, defamiliarisation, and the distinction between fabula and syuzhet, showing how Russian Formalists sought to identify what makes a text uniquely literary by foregrounding its artistic techniques. The discussion then turns to New Criticism, examining the practice of close reading, the idea of organic unity, and the role of paradox, irony, and ambiguity in producing complex poetic meaning.
Alongside its methods and insights, the episode also addresses the scientific ambitions of Formalism and the critical objections raised against it, particularly its neglect of historical, social, and ideological contexts. Designed for UG and PG students, teachers, and serious readers of literary theory, this episode functions as a complete study guide—demonstrating why attention to “the text itself” remains a foundational skill in literary analysis, even as criticism has moved beyond Formalism’s limits.