Viktor Shklovsky's "Art as Technique" (Summary)

 

 

"Art involves the process of thinking through visual representations. Poetry, in particular, embodies this form of thought by employing imagery, which allows for a more efficient mental process and a sense of ease in comprehension. The notion that art relies fundamentally on imagery has led to various interpretations of artistic works, extending even to music, architecture, and lyric poetry. Many still hold the belief that poetry primarily involves thinking in images. However, contrary to this expectation, the imagery in poetry remains relatively consistent across time, culture, and individual poets. It seems that these images are not unique to any one poet but rather belong universally. Understanding a particular era reveals that the images employed by a poet are often borrowed from others rather than being original creations. Poetic works are distinguished based on the innovative techniques poets employ and how they manipulate language rather than the uniqueness of their imagery. Poets are more concerned with organizing existing images than generating new ones. Thus, the ability to recall and arrange imagery is paramount for poets, overshadowing the importance of creative invention."

Imagistic thought doesn't encompass all aspects of art, including verbal art like poetry. Changes in imagery aren't crucial for poetry's development. Sometimes, something might be seen as poetic even if it wasn't intended to be. This shows that our perception plays a significant role in attributing artistry to a work.

 

In a narrow sense, "works of art" refer to pieces created with techniques aimed at being clearly artistic. Imagery serves two purposes: as a practical way of thinking, categorizing objects, and as a poetic tool to enhance impressions.

 

For instance, if I want to get a child's attention when they're making a mess with butter, I might say, "Hey, butterfingers!" This is a prosaic figure of speech. But if the child drops my glasses while playing, and I say the same thing, it becomes a poetic figure of speech. Poetic imagery intensifies impressions but isn't more effective than other poetic techniques like parallelism, comparison, or repetition.

 

Unlike the standard imagery found in stories or songs, poetic imagery is just one element of poetic language. In contrast, prose imagery is about abstract ideas.

 

Ideas about conserving energy and the laws of creativity are often applied to practical language but are also extended to poetic language. However, this extension doesn't properly differentiate between the rules governing practical and poetic language.

 

To understand the laws of expenditure and economy in poetic language, we need to focus on the specific rules of poetic language rather than drawing parallels with prose. When we examine general laws of perception, we notice that habitual actions become automatic over time. This habituation explains why we often leave phrases unfinished or words partially expressed in everyday speech.

 

In rapid speech, complete words are often reduced to initial sounds, almost like symbols. This method of thought, akin to algebra, allows us to perceive objects as shapes with vague outlines rather than in their entirety. This mode of perception is efficient but leads to a loss of detail and essence over time.

 

This process of "algebrization" or over-automatization of objects minimizes the effort required for perception. Objects are simplified to their most essential features or even function according to predetermined formulas, diminishing their presence in cognition.

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Habitualization, or the unconscious repetition of actions, consumes various aspects of life, including work, relationships, and even the fear of war. Art, on the other hand, serves to reawaken our sensation of life by presenting things as they are perceived rather than as they are known.

 

Art achieves this by making objects unfamiliar and forms challenging, thereby prolonging the process of perception. Art is a means of experiencing the artfulness of an object, with the object itself being less important. The purpose of art lies in enriching our perception and prolonging the aesthetic experience.

 

Once we become accustomed to seeing an object repeatedly, we tend to overlook it, failing to perceive it with fresh insight. Art disrupts this automatism by making familiar things appear unfamiliar. One method of achieving this, exemplified by Leo Tolstoy, involves describing familiar objects or events as if encountering them for the first time.

 

Tolstoy achieves this sense of unfamiliarity by avoiding conventional names for parts of objects and instead using terms associated with other objects. For instance, in his story "Shame," he describes the act of flogging without directly naming it, prompting the reader to see it in a new light. By questioning the conventional methods of causing pain, Tolstoy forces readers to confront the brutality of the act.

 

This technique of defamiliarization is recurrent in Tolstoy's work. In "Kholstomer," for instance, the narrator is a horse, providing a perspective that makes familiar concepts, like private property, seem strange. The horse struggles to comprehend human concepts such as ownership, reflecting on the meaning of phrases like "my horse" and "my land."

 

Through these examples, Tolstoy challenges readers to reconsider their perceptions of familiar ideas and objects, encouraging deeper reflection on the nature of human behavior and society.

In the passage, Tolstoy illustrates through his writing how humans and animals perceive ownership differently. He uses the example of a horse reflecting on human notions of ownership, highlighting how people often claim things as their own without truly interacting with them. The horse observes that humans strive for possessions, including people, without necessarily valuing their well-being. The horse concludes that while humans may possess language, animals, like itself, are guided by actions rather than words.

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Even when the horse is killed in the story, Tolstoy maintains his technique of defamiliarization, describing the burial process in a detached manner. This technique, which emphasizes seeing familiar actions with fresh eyes, persists even when its initial purpose is no longer relevant.

 

Tolstoy employs this method not only in narrative descriptions but also in his depiction of battles, drawing rooms, and theaters in "War and Peace." By describing these familiar settings as if they were new and unfamiliar, Tolstoy prompts readers to reconsider their perceptions and engage with the scenes in a different light.

 

Tolstoy's technique of defamiliarization, which involves presenting familiar concepts in an unfamiliar way, is evident throughout his works. In his later writings, Tolstoy challenges religious dogmas and rituals by describing them as strange and unfamiliar, which unsettles those who view them as sacred.

 

This technique is not unique to Tolstoy; it is found in various forms of artistic expression. Defamiliarization aims to create a unique perception of objects or ideas rather than merely conveying their meaning. For instance, phrases like "the pestle and the mortar" or "Old Nick and the infernal regions" serve to defamiliarize familiar concepts, as do constructions in psychological parallelism.

Poetic speech, with its distinctive phonetic and lexical structure, also employs defamiliarization to impede automatic perception and create a new vision of the object. Poetic language often appears foreign or archaic, employing difficult or roughened forms that require slower and more deliberate perception. This deliberate slowing down of perception enhances the poetic effect and allows for a deeper engagement with the text.DD

 

Pushkin, for example, used everyday language in a way that was unexpected and challenging for his contemporaries, who were accustomed to a more elegant style. Pushkin's deliberate use of common language served to prolong attention and create a unique poetic experience.

a notable shift is occurring in Russian literary language. Originally foreign to Russia, literary language has now become integrated with everyday speech, while literature is increasingly incorporating dialects and barbarisms intentionally. This shift is exemplified by authors who purposefully use provincial language.

 

Furthermore, there's a trend led by Maxim Gorky towards adopting a new literary colloquialism, departing from the old literary language. This change reflects a broader shift where ordinary speech and literary language are trading places.

 

Additionally, there's a movement, spearheaded by Khlebnikov, towards creating a new poetic language. In light of these developments, poetry can be defined as refined and intricate speech, contrasting with the simplicity and economy of prose.

 

Despite these changes, some argue for the idea of economy of artistic energy as a defining characteristic of poetic language, particularly in relation to rhythm. However, this notion overlooks the distinction between poetic and prosaic language.

 

Rhythm serves different functions in prose and poetry. In prose or work songs, rhythm helps automatize tasks, making them easier to perform. In contrast, poetic rhythm is intentionally disordered, resisting systematic categorization. Attempts to systematize poetic rhythm ultimately fail, as the disordering cannot be predicted.