Formalist/ New Criticism

1. Formalist/ New Criticism Ben, Kate, and Kristan

2. Formalist • Also known as New Criticism, Formalism involves a close reading of the text in a piece of writing • Formalists believe that all information that is essential to the interpretation of a work must be found within the piece itself • There is no need to bring in outside information about the author’s life • They are not interested in the work’s affect on the reader • Spend much time analyzing the irony, imagery, paradox, and metaphors of the literary work • Interested in setting, symbols, characters, and point of view incorporated in the piece • A formalist basically would focus on literary devices of a piece of writing, especially irony

3. Background Information New Criticism arose in opposition to biographical or vaguely impressionistic approaches • It sought to establish literary studies as a main idea • Its desire to reveal “organic unity in complex texts” (or the use of literary devices in all works of writing) may be historically determined, reflective of early 20th century critics seeking a lost order or in conflict with an increasingly fragmented society

4. Pros of Formalism • This approach can be performed without much research • It emphasizes the value of literature apart from its context (in effect makes literature timeless) • Virtually all critical approaches must begin here; it is the origin of criticism

5. Cons of Formalism • When using formalism, the text is seen in isolation • Formalism ignores the context of the work; it focuses only on literary devices • It cannot account for allusions • It tends to reduce literature to a science; and the style and emotion is broken down and ignored

6. Connections:My Father And the fig tree • The narrator is the son in the poem, and he is telling a story of his father and his love of figs • The fig tree in the story is a motif; it is a reoccurring figure throughout the piece • The father refers to the figs as a holy gift of Allah; symbolism • The story takes places at various homes, and the fig tree is at every house, if not literally it is metophorical

7. Works Cited • http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_form.html • http://www1.assumption.edu/users/ady/HHGateway/Gateway/Approaches.html#New%20Criticism/Formalism • http://wwww.ksu.edu.sa/colleges/art/eng/461-Eng/Literary%20Criticism%20Map.htm