Ferdinand de Saussure's Influence on Russian Federalism - Essay Example

?Ferdinand de Saussure’s Influence on Russian Formalism When the study of language and associated theories on linguistics had flourished through the several contributions of Ferdinand de Saussure, the view of language evolved as being central to the bulk of human affairs and not merely incidental to man’s understanding of the world. To Saussure, there exists a great deal of interest in finding how language manages to develop its essence based on form and structure. This basic claim signifies how formalists, in the endeavor to study ‘literariness’ within a school of literary theory and analysis, came to the point of treating literary approach as distinct from the conventional way with language in the sense that literary language is characterized by special utilization of devices or features that are perceptible beyond tradition. Saussure had determined that the randomness in linguistic form establishes system within language and regardless of language, this system provides a method and structure that distinguishes one aspect of communication from the other. Formalists believe likewise so that in laying the foundations of formalism, their prevailing argument with literary criticism significantly contradicts the romantic perspective of considering the indispensable elements of art in literature wherein composers are perceived as artists able to convey more profound and meaningful account of themes in their literary works. However, formalists and Saussure both agree that this is just an arbitrary treatment of language on the grounds of the three tenets, namely – form, diction, and unity. Through diction, formalists are concerned with both the denotative and connotative implications of the text as well as the presence of alternative expressions and ambiguous definitions for these would all constitute the form. While the essence of the form exhibits how literary functions are shaped to arrive at a consistent effect, unity serves as a tenet which holds together the impact out of accumulated images, sounds, and other figures of speech that bear the capacity of bringing across an elaborate sense of wholeness in the creation (James, 2010). Defamiliarization Basically, defamiliarization pertains to a means or process of removing attributes that make something familiar and where no signification is placed on the value of common sense. By Russian formalism, the term points to “the distinctive effect achieved by literary works in disrupting our habitual perception of the world, enabling us to see things afresh” which also happens to be necessary in the contexts regarded in the poetry of the English romantics (Baldick, 1990). Since the main focus of formalism is directed to analyze the concept of ‘literariness’, formalists had been able to identify unfamiliar manifestations through the language of literature. Thus, the scholarly task of revealing defamiliarization had led them to attach it to the literary language, having discovered that instead of satisfying the literature’s chief purpose of reflecting the world or nature, defamiliarization seemingly drives humans to take on a different course or path in the attempt to figure out the substance of a literary piece. For the Russian critic and writer Victor Shlovsky, defamiliarization is the same as ‘linguistic dislocation’, making strange something that could have possibly been delivered in a manner familiar to men (Russian Formalism). Estrangement in language, nevertheless, may be thought of as fulfilling literature’s aim to relieve people from the norm of viewing reality under a single monotonous dimension so that they can be inspired to seek potentials and comfort in the realm of language intricacies. In “Early Spring Aubade” by Mary M. Brown, the first two lines of the poem depict a mundane image of life at work and the details that follow are supposed to describe the speaker’s experience relevant to the poem’s early spring subject. The reader may feel strange, however, on the use of the phrase ‘the prevails’ which by frequent usage refers to a verb in singular form synonymous to the terms ‘dominate’ and ‘control’. At a point, one may be caught pondering on whether ‘the prevails’ as a plural noun should constitute what can be concretely seen at the sight of a ‘wavering morning sun’. Somehow, the connection among ‘quivering grace’, ‘tentative dawn’, and the ‘briefest visit’ mentioned is defamiliarized by the ambiguity in ‘the prevails’ (Bressler, 51 & 52). Similarly, Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” consists of unusual contractions and words spoken of by a character of different cultural orientation so that defamiliarization is detected in words such as ‘fraid, ent, yistiday, and sence along with French expression “Dieu Sait” inserted within a sentence in English. Apparently, defamiliarization interrupts the smooth flow of reading and the reader would have to cope at deriving sense and meaning through context clues given in the text. New Critic’s Position on Paradox, Irony, and Ambiguity A New Critic fundamentally argues that the meaning of a text is intrinsic and hence must be accounted for with discernment separate from the sphere of influences and objectives of the author. Such meaning ought to be drawn from ‘close reading’ or focus on the quality of the text in terms of evaluating its coherence and unity via imagery, mood, narrative structure, tone, and other literary components which altogether generate the written content (Delahoyde). Paradox and irony, being the “chief elements in a poem” according to the New Critic can aid in unifying a poem where paradox is applied whenever contradicting a statement made is necessary while irony is a rhetorical technique of implying a meaning opposite that of a literal statement delivered. Along with ambiguity by which textual presentation may contain a variety of possible interpretations, irony and paradox become essential parts of poetry for stimulating the imagination of a reader who naturally tends to locate perceptibility in understanding a work of literature. For instance, the contradictions shown within a paradoxical text enable a reader to measure an intensity of a situation or degree to which a particular sentiment must be disposed. Likewise, an irony enhances poetic effect by creating a unique impression when it shifts a reader’s faculty into a more dynamic mood and sensibility toward the concreteness of a poem’s theme despite ambiguity. To New Critics, the tension in poetry is a ‘strain’ that indicates a sign of poetic virtue that must be exuded in paradox, irony, and ambiguity (Kirsch, 2008). In other words, tensions are complexities present in paradoxes, ironies, and ambiguities in order for a reader to gain comprehension of how a poem works or is meant to be taken. On reading “Ballad of Birmingham” by D. Randall, the impact of tension is sharp in the stanza “The mother smiled to know her child / was in the sacred place / but that smile was the last smile / to come upon her face.” Tension in Chopin’s “The Storm” is embodied in the impassiveness of a character’s response toward the bursting storm. Plato on Literary Criticism Literary criticism, with respect to the philosophical knowledge of Plato, may be addressed on the grounds of ‘idealism’ or Plato’s Utopian theory which illustrates an ‘ideal commonwealth’. Through idealism, ‘imaginary’ coexists with the ‘real’ where the theory assumes that all of mankind dwells within the realm of imagination and the opportunity to penetrate the perfect city of reality would take place the moment people engage in disciplines of mathematics and philosophy. Plato further idealizes reality as a city of perfection governed by “guardians” who guard the reality with perfect thoughts and deeds apart from all acts or intent of deception and corruption. Since imagination lies outside of reality and nowhere to be found in the latter, it cannot be ideal so the theory of idealism proposes the non-existence of poets as well as literary compositions that mostly demand abstract over real approach (Khamis). “The Allegory of the Cave” explicates Plato’s theory of idealism in such fashion as to propose that imagination is comparable to a man of the cave who only sees shadows in the dark so that a picture produced in the mind is merely copy or projection of yet another image of an object expected to possess physical truth. Eventually, the allegory likely suggests that the caveman be guided out of the cave where there is adequate light for the man to see what is exactly real only that this needs to be done gradually for learning takes time (Khamis). Equivalently, Plato criticizes the literary world as an entity of imperfection for the arts and creative devices through which a piece of literature is composed are themselves immaterial by nature and hence may not be considered part of the perfect real world. Works Cited “Russian Formalism.” 2012. Web. 13 Sep 2012. http://faculty.washington.edu/cbehler/glossary/russianform.html. James, Nicholas. “Form, Diction, and Unity: the Three Tenets of Formalism.” 22 Feb 2010. 13 Sep 2012. http://nicholassjames.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/form-diction-and-unity-the-three-tenets-of-formalism/. Baldick (1990). “Defamiliarization.” 2012. Web. 13 Sep 2012. http://faculty.washington.edu/cbehler/glossary/glossary.html#defamiliarization. Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 5th ed. Delahoyde, Michael. “New Criticism.” Introduction to Literature. 2012. Web. 14 Sep 2012. http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/new.crit.html. Kirsch, Adam. “Harvesting the Wasteland: An Anthology of New Criticism.” NY The Sun. 13 Aug 2008. Web. 14 Sep 2012. http://www.nysun.com/arts/harvesting-the-waste-land-an-anthology-of-new/83727/. Khamis, Mohamed. “Plato on Literary Criticism.” 12 Mar 2012. Web. 14 Sep 2012. http://educationcing.blogspot.com/2012/03/plato-on-literary-criticism.html. Read More