The Foundations of Formalism

The nature of criticism has been a matter of debate for centuries, dealing with literature and its effect on the human mind and emotions. Early in the twentieth century, a group of critics formed to bring criticism to, what they presumed, its purest form. The new criticism, or formalism, wanted to deal with purely the text of a work and none of the other details that went into the creation of the text. Be it the author or the reader, all these points were irrelevant in the critique of a text. Strict definition and analysis of a text, without involvement of the author or reader reaction, is the only way to completely critique the text objectively.

John Crowe Ransom was a leading advocate of Formalism, took steps to create many of the rules, and helped to implement this new theory of criticism. In this theory, a critic should only base the extrapolation of a text on the text itself. Other outside influences serve to taint the overall impression of the poem, taking the critique of the poem and changing it into something wholly different. A defining point of New Criticism, Ransom feels that each criticism should be critical and exact, always relating only to the text.

Ransom calls for broad changes to be made within the English department before the ideals of New Criticism can take place. The practice of criticism should become its own autonomous academic discipline. The English department is concerned with the process of literature, history, and other such pursuits to define literature. These principles help only to define literature as a whole, not giving any detail to specific texts. Criticism should only be based on the text at hand and none of the aspects of the English department that will take attention from the text itself.