The "Art as Technique" article by Viktor Shklovsky was uninspiring in my opinion, although to be fair, the only 'familiarity' I have with Tolstoy's work is the 5 minutes I watched of War and Peace before my grandparents fell asleep and I could switch movies.
I believe that over time due to habitual perception (and due to our own limited mental schema to which we compare new concepts/perceptions), we start to perceive what we expect to see. I did like Shlovsky's idea of lazy perspectives - totally true. Kinda reminds me of the new digital scent technology. We don't even have to take the time to imagine what it would smell like! I can't wait for an Axe men's body spray commercial!
What was surprising to me is that Shklovsky talks for 5 pages about "defamiliarization" without ever mentioning that this technique is basically like having a child narrator or one that is completely ignorant of the cultural context. The narrations are very matter-of-fact, vague, and make the object seem pointless, which something like opera would be to some 7 year old who never knew such a thing existed. This naive point of view highlights the arbitrariness of cultural, spiritual, and societal phenomenon (I guess societal would just cover it all) and the tinge of innocence that comes along with it is just enough so that the moderate reader will not be offended. I wish I had known of the "defamiliarization" buzz word last semester...
A tidbit of ancient wisdom for us, "According to Aristotle, poetic language must appear strange and wonderful; and, in fact, it is often actually foreign" (21). Then he goes on to list all the borrowed language. This foreign "poetic language" is a lot like exoticism. Old news.
It seemed the content of the last 2 pages appeared without context and were a bit of a snooze.
Random thought, if people are so stingy in using our perceptive senses, why do they go to great lengths to seek sensual (sense-ual) thrills?
I actually like the idea of "defamiliarization" better when you talk about it. Especially when you explain about seeing things from a child's point of view, or that of someone who is not familiar with the cultural context (better than the example of the horse's perspective if you ask me).
ReplyDeleteHeya, I think that defamiliarization is about more than child narrators! Indeed, it's about more than narrators: look at Shklovsky's discussion of poetic language.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, as to your question: Shklovsky might say that people "go to great lengths to seek sensual (sense-ual) thrills" because they have forgotten how to perceive what's around and about them.
I liked the article and agree with his views. I agree with Jon, it must be more than about narrators. Maybe I am not being objective (he's Russian and gives examples of two greatest Russian classics), but I really believe the idea of defamiliarization is great!
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