An approach to interpretation and/or evaluation focused on the (usually linguistic) structure of a literary work rather than on the contexts of its origin or reception
the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented
The essence of art is "significant form" - lines, shapes, colors, and other formal properties of the work; representation, expression, and other subject matter are irrelevant Good art uses formal elements to trigger an "aesthetic emotion" in sensitive observers (Clive Bell, Clement Greenberg)
The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp
The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in Serial music
(philosophy) the philosophical theory that formal (logical or mathematical) statements have no meaning but that its symbols (regarded as physical entities) exhibit a form that has useful applications
in ethics, the view that moral acts follow from fixed moral principles and do not change because of circumstances
the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms the doctrine that formal structure rather than content is what should be represented (philosophy) the philosophical theory that formal (logical or mathematical) statements have no meaning but that its symbols (regarded as physical entities) exhibit a form that has useful applications
strict observance of the established rules, traditions and methods employed in the arts Formalism can also refer to the theory of art that relies heavily on the organization of forms in a work rather than on the content
Formalism is a style, especially in art, in which great attention is paid to the outward form or appearance rather than to the inner reality or significance of things. + formalist for·mal·ist art based on formalist principles. a style or method in art, religion, or science that pays a lot attention to the rules and correct forms of something, rather than to inner meanings. or Russian Formalism Russian school of literary criticism that flourished from 1914 to 1928. Making use of the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, Formalists were concerned with what technical devices make a literary text literary, apart from its psychological, sociological, biographical, and historical elements. Though influenced by the Symbolist movement, they sought to make their analyses more objective and scientific than those of the Symbolists. The movement was condemned by the Soviet authorities in 1929 for its lack of political perspective. Later it became influential in the West, notably in New Criticism and structuralism
Tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in Neoclassical music
concerned with or characterized by rigorous or adherence to recognized forms (especially in religion or art); "highly formalized plays like `Waiting for Godot'