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Understanding Defamiliarization in Literature

The document discusses the concept of defamiliarization, which refers to techniques used by writers to make familiar objects seem strange or unfamiliar. It introduces Viktor Shklovsky's theory that defamiliarization is the goal of art, as it renews readers' perception of the world. Examples are given from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels showing how the writers defamiliarize the familiar through an unusual perspective. The document also provides context on Russian Formalism and its focus on what makes a text literary.

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Cheryl Latonero
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306 views25 pages

Understanding Defamiliarization in Literature

The document discusses the concept of defamiliarization, which refers to techniques used by writers to make familiar objects seem strange or unfamiliar. It introduces Viktor Shklovsky's theory that defamiliarization is the goal of art, as it renews readers' perception of the world. Examples are given from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels showing how the writers defamiliarize the familiar through an unusual perspective. The document also provides context on Russian Formalism and its focus on what makes a text literary.

Uploaded by

Cheryl Latonero
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Introduction to Stylistics
  • Defamiliarization
  • Roman Jakobson
  • Schlovsky's Defamiliarization
  • Russian Formalism
  • Viktor Shklovsky
  • The Principal Tenets of American Formalism
  • American Formalism Principles

Defamiliarization: Making

the Ordinary Strange


INTRODUCTION TO STYLISTICS
This afternoon, we will be able to
understand the following:

 Bakhtinian’s Theory of
Carnivalization
 Dialogic vs. Monologic Style
Jacobson’s Question of
MINE

Literariness
 Schlovsky’s Defamiliarization
This afternoon, we will be able to
understand the following:

 Jacobson’s Question of
Literariness
 Schlovsky’s Defamiliarization
Roman Jakobson

He pondered and asked


questions about the
“literariness” of literary
texts.
Question to consider:

What contributes to the literariness of


literary texts?
a. aesthetic value
b. affective appeal
c. both a and b
l(a

l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
Defamiliarization

 It “refers to the writer’s taking


an everyday object that we all
recognize and …rendering that
same object weirdly unfamiliar
to us, strange even.”
(Shmoop Editorial Team, 2017)
Defamiliarization

 “…defamiliarization is a
technique by which the author
can re-enliven the naturally
inquisitive and literary awesome
gaze of the child in the reader.”
(Hamilton, 2017)
Defamiliarization

 It is one of the
techniques that was
introduced by the
Russian formalists.
Russian Formalism

 Russian Formalism, was


concerned more with
the notion of literariness
- what makes a text
literary – than with the
concept of literature
itself.
We’ve made so that we love
First when we see them painted, things we have passed
Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see;
And so they are better, painted – better to us
Which is the same thing. Art was given for that.
- Robert Browning, Fra Lippo Lippi
Question to consider:

What does the poem suggest about


the whole point of art?
Viktor Shklovsky

In his essay “Art as


Technique,” said that
defamiliarization is the
point of all art. Art makes
the language strange, as
well as the world that the
language presents.
“…I was delighted when I first discovered that a
pleasant sound, which often saluted my ears,
proceeded from the throats of the little winged
animals who had often intercepted the light from
my eyes.”
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Question to consider:

How does the Frankenstein’s creature


defamiliarize the familiar?
“…This made me reflect upon the fair skins of our English
ladies, who appear so beautiful to us, only because
they are of our own size, and their defects not to be
seen through a magnifying glass, where we find by
experiment that the smoothest and whitest skins look
rough and course, and ill colored.”
- Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels
Question to consider:

How does Gulliver’s size make the


women defamiliarized?
Question to consider:

How can we achieve defamiliarization


in literature?
The Principal Tenets of
American Formalism
INTRODUCTION TO STYLISTICS
Form is All-Encompassing
Unity
Organicism
Coherent Whole / Overall Effect
Form / Content Inseparable
Form Determines Content
Irony and Ambiguity
Contrasts and Contradictions
Paradoxes
Literary Language Superior
Specific, Concrete
Language over Abstract
Text is Central
Intentional Fallacy
Affective Fallacy

Defamiliarization: Making the Ordinary Strange INTRODUCTION TO STYLISTICS
This afternoon, we will be able to understand the following: Bakhtinian’s Theory of Carnivalization Dialogic vs. Monologi
This afternoon, we will be able to understand the following: Jacobson’s Question of Literariness Schlovsky’s Defamiliariz
Roman Jakobson He pondered and asked questions about the “literariness” of literary texts.
Question to consider: What contributes to the literariness of literary texts? a. aesthetic value b. affective appeal c. both
l(a l(a le af fa ll s) one l iness
Defamiliarization It “refers to the writer’s taking an everyday object that we all recognize and …rendering that same object
Defamiliarization “…defamiliarization is a technique by which the author can re-enliven the naturally inquisitive and litera
Defamiliarization It is one of the techniques that was introduced by the Russian formalists.

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