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Family Matters: Formalism, Evolution and Politics of Literature

Probably the most vivid illustration in the vast discussion that was going on during the 1920s in the USSR about literary evolution was the famous family metaphor coined by Viktor Shklovsky. Summing up his views on that subject matter, Shklovsky claimed that the evolution of the art happens not as a movement from father to son, but from uncle to nephew. By using that generational metaphor – along with other similar ones (junior line vs. old line, younger tribe succeeding the tribe that grew old and tired, one class succeeding another etc.) – Shklovsky tried to propose a solution to the question of literary evolution that would be in compliance with his concept of ostranenie as the core element of every artistic device, as well as to achieve a balance between the polarities of simple, straightforward, continuous development and instant, externally motivated genesis of various literary forms. Although Shklovsky’s claim may seem slightly banal, it has an important place in the history of literary theory because of several different reasons. First of all, the discussion about literary evolution was one of the central points in broader struggle between Formalist and (orthodox) Marxist school of literary theory in the USSR over the question about the relation between literature and history/life, and the biological, generational metaphors he employed in it were not only devices to illustrate his point, but also clever tropes that were supposed to ensure his faithfulness to the revolutionary spirit of the new science(s), while allowing him to stay by his opinion. Moreover, simple as it may seem, those metaphors indubitably provided a foundational ground for the further, more complex development of the Formalist theory of literary evolution, which was carried out by Jakobson and Tynyanov. Finally, what might be most interesting to us today, the theory of literary evolution is the strongest junction point between the Formalist theoretical heritage and the contemporary poststructuralist/post-Marxist literary theory ; a segment that proves continuous relevance of Russian Formalism for many of present-day questions in literary scholarships. Having that in mind, this paper will aim to analyze Shklovsky’s “family-model” of literary evolution in its theoretical and broader historical context, it will investigate the discussions and objections it gave a rise to, its shortcomings and innovative points, as well as its relevance and presence in contemporary theoretical currents, especially regarding the concepts of (inter)textuality and the politics of literature.

Russian formalism, history of literature, evolution of literature, politics of literature, family

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