Literature as Violence: The Works of Russian Formalism

• In Event: The Radical Utopianism of the Soviet Twenties I: Words

Abstract

Roman Jakobson, a key figure in the Russian Formalism movement, provided an intriguing definition of Formalist theory in his 1923 article “On Czech Verse.” He described it as “a theory of organized violence of poetic form committed upon language.” This presentation seeks to unpack this statement by examining the early works of Russian Formalism in the context of the intellectual and historical landscape of the Soviet twenties. I will explore the ideas that emerged within the movement during this period, shedding light on how the Formalists articulated their radical theoretical perspective on literature as a field inherently characterized by necessity and productivity of violence.

Author

• Yulia Kim, Columbia U