DEFAMILIARIZATION IN FORMALISM

 DEFAMILIARIZATION IN FORMALISM

ORIGIN:

·      Defamiliarization (or ostranenie) is a literary and artistic concept that originated in Russian Formalism, particularly through the work of Viktor Shklovsky in his 1917 essay "Art as Technique."

MEANING:

·      Defamiliarization is a modern literary technique of presenting familiar objects, concepts, or experiences in an unfamiliar or strange way.

·      This technique force the readers or viewers to see this real world from a fresh perspective.

KEY FEATURES OF DEFAMILIARIZATION:

1.   Breaking Automatic Perception: It disrupts the routine, automatic ways in which people see and understand everyday objects or events.

2.   Making the Familiar Strange: The goal is to reawaken the audience’s senses and thought processes by presenting the ordinary in a novel or unusual way.

3.   Art as a Means of Transformation: According to Shklovsky, the primary aim of true art is to renew human perception. By making things unfamiliar, art challenges normal thinking and leads to creative thinking.

4.   Language as a Tool: In literature, defamiliarization is often achieved through unconventional use of language, such as unusual metaphors, unexpected imagery, or innovative narrative structures.

Examples in Literature:

1.   In George Orwell's "Animal Farm", defamiliarization is a central technique that shapes the novel's allegorical power. Orwell uses anthropomorphism—assigning human traits to animals—to present a critique of political systems.

·      The pigs' control over the other animals mirrors the ruling elite's dominance.

·      The sheep's mindless repetition of slogans highlights the dangers of blind loyalty in political systems.

2.   Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” defamiliarizes the human experience by presenting a man who wakes up as a giant insect, forcing readers to think seriously about the absurdity of human life and existence.

3.   Emily Dickinson: Her poetry often uses slant rhymes, unconventional punctuation, and vivid, surprising metaphors to defamiliarize common ideas about life, death, and nature.