FORMALISM AND STRUCTURALISM APPROACH

LITERARY APPROACHES: FORMALISM AND STRUCTURALISM

Members: Aishah Berto, Alzen Ahmad, Marivic Armodia, Joshua Idlisan, Fharhana Usab, Xanderbhyll Singco

Group 1

04/03/2023

Literary Criticism

is the evaluation, analysis, description or interpretation of literary works.

Formalist Literary Approach

What is it?

Elements of the story:

Is a critical approach in which text under discussion is considered primarily as a structure of words. The main focus is on the arrangement of language rather than the implications of words. It reduces the text to nothing more than a sense of words, thereby limiting its meaning and power.

1. Setting
2. Characters
3. Plot
4. Conflict
5. Theme
6. Point of view
7. Tone
8. Mood

Remember!

Formalism...

1. Studies text as a text.
2. Not taking into account any outside influence.
3. You are fixed on the text alone.
4. Elements of form: Style, imagery, tone and structure.

Text and a checklist for Formalist Criticism

What is a text?

1. A literary work which is a finished product, and nothing can change its meaning and form.
2. The form and contents of the text cannot be separated. It creates meaning as a whole.
3. A literary text has a fixed meaning.

A formalist critic analyzes:

• How the work is structured or organized
• The language of the literary work
• How all the parts relate to one another
• Style of the writing
• Literary devices such as imageries, similes, metaphors, ironies, paradox, etc.
• How it starts
• How the plot is built
• How it ends

Let's revise...

The goal is to understand a text through the formal elements the writer used.

Formalism

Tells us that the most important aspect of a work of literature is its form; Regards literature as a "unique form of human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms."

Structuralist Literary Approach

What is it?

Is the interpreting and analyzing a literary piece that focuses on contrasting ideas and how they relate to the whole structure.

It can be based on the reader's understanding, which may involve personal belief, environment, behavior/moral perception.

Here, a literary piece is open to interpretation.

Structuralism

It is a way of understanding culture and meaning in the arts by relating the individual piece of art to something larger.

"The idea here is that human conciousness has universal features."

H1

early 1900s

underlining systems/ underlining structures

H3

H2

Ferdinand de Saussure

Ferdinand de Saussure

Saussure’s theory is based on binary oppositions or dyads, i.e., defining a unit in terms of what it is not, which give rise to oppositional pairs in which one is always superior to the other. The most fundamental binary opposition is related to the concept of sign, the basic unit of signification.

"Structuralists believe that the underlying structures which organise rules and units into meaningful systems are generated by the human mind itself and not by sense perception."

Structuralist Literary Approach

Interpretation 1

We should be careful in all our actions or else we can drag down others with us.

Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown And Jill came tumbing after.

Interpretation 2

Jack's crown may symbolize authority. So we can apply this to governance. If the ruler fails, it affects the people.

By Samuel Arnold

Formalist VS Structuralist

Formalist Literary Approach

An approach that favours form over the thematic concerns within a text or its relationship with the world outside.

Structuralist Literary Approach

Analyzes the structure of a text without focusing on the external factors such as authorship, social and cultural influence.

An approach that studies texts in terms of the contrasts and opposition within.

It is based on the assumption that every text has a universal, underlying structure.

Fix the jumbled letters to identify the element of the story being referred to.

CARETHCAR

This is an element of the story that refers to the people or person who faces the conflict in the story.

GTETSIN

CHARACTER

This is an element of the story that refers to place and time the story happens.

SETTING

CIFTONLC

LTPO

This is the struggle of the protagonist that he needs to face. This gives the sense and highlight of the story.

This is the element that narrates the sequence of the story.

PLOT

CONFLICT

Identification

What were the two literary approaches discussed?

Formalist and Structuralist Literary Approach

Thank you for listening.

Group 1 Members:Berto, Aishah Usab, Fharhana Ahmad, Alzen Singco, Xanderbhyll Idlisan, Joshua Armodia, Marivic