What are the basic differences between Russian Formalism and New Criticism?
amarang9 Teacher eNotes Editor Tough question. Both schools (American/English New Criticism and Russian Formalism) are types of Formalism. Both theories aim at deriving meaning, not from content, but in the structure and form of literature. Russian Formalism stressed that what a piece of literature “means” cannot be dismissed from how it says it. In other words, the structure/style of literature is not just artifice: it is what makes it meaningful. For example, in mathematical language, 2+2=4, not because of an author’s intent (intentional fallacy -New Critics) or a reader’s subjective response (affective fallacy – N.C.) or because of historical context. 2+2=4 means what it means because of how it is written. Both New Criticism and Russian Formalism sought to make literary criticism more objective/scientific in this way: to distinguish, formalistically, literary language from ordinary language. Both schools were criticized for ignoring the historical and sociological components that in
