The Analyzation of Folktale Through the Prism of Russian Formalism

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The academic movement of Russian Formalism emphasized literary works and its component parts, and autonomy of scholarship. Scholars of literature, ethnographers and linguists explored the notion of general forms and structures existing in literary works. The conventional structure of folklore and fairytales sparked a huge amount of interest in the study of Russian Formalism. In particular, Vladimir Propp established in his Morphology of the Folktale an intricate account of the structure of fairytales. This essay will apply Propp’s theories in analyzing the fairytale ‘The Goose Girl’ by the Brothers Grimm through the Russian Formalism paradigm. Russian Formalism is an academic movement built upon a foundation of literary works and it’s component parts of autonomy of scholarship. Russian Formalism revolves around the idea of structure and general form in existing literary works, bought upon by scholars, linguistics and ethnographers. The structure of folklore gained particular interest in the study of Russian formalism, One Vladimir Propp established an intricate account of the structure of fairytales in his Morphology of the Folktale. This essay will apply Propp’s theory through an evaluation and analysis of the Brothers Grimm fairytale ‘The Water of Life’ through the Russian Formalism model. The Russian Formalist paradigm aimed to ‘make literary criticism into a science with its own unique object of study’ (Harland 1999, p.147). The object of study was language, which was vital in Russian Formalist interpretations. They focused of the intrinsic property within the work itself, in particular the structure and technique of the text, which enabled a prediction of principles discovered later by the French Structuralists and the American New Criticism (Gerould 1978, p.152). The Russian Formalists insisted on ‘the autonomy of literary scholarship’(1973, p.627). The

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