Russian Formalism was a school of literary theory and criticism that emerged in Russia during the early 20th century. One of the central tenets of Russian Formalism is the emphasis on the "device" or "technique" as the primary focus of literary analysis.
Russian Formalists argued that the artistic and technical aspects of a text, such as its narrative techniques, linguistic features, and structural elements, are what constitute its literary value. They believed that these devices are the "heroes" of literature, rather than the content or thematic elements.
This perspective contrasts with other theoretical movements like New Criticism, which also emphasized close reading of the text but focused more on the text's overall meaning and its intrinsic unity.
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