Defamiliarization Essays

  • The Evolution of the Term Defamiliarization

    1963 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Defamiliarization”, “alienation effect”, “making strange”, and “denaturalization” that has hitherto concerned many thinkers, underwent so many changes throughout history. This thesis aims to study the evolution of the term defamiliarization up to the field of postmodernism, and to reveal the fact that defamiliarization in its anti-illusionistic manner has turned to be indispensable spirit of the second half of the twentieth century. The analysis of the two works written by two authors from different

  • Mary Shelly's Defamiliarization In Frankenstein

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals the uncanny defamiliarization of the natural part of the general public. The creature, a making of Victor Frankenstein’s frenzy is utilized to affirm this. The monsters ghastly appearance is the reason of society’s loath towards it, thus it is addressed with appall and contempt. Despite the fact that the creature has general aims, and of the societal population around him, he tries forming an understanding to the society’s standards. The beast is abandoned by

  • Defamiliarization in Relation to Winfred Owen's Poem Anthem for Doomed Youth

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this Essay I will discuss defamiliarization in relation to Wifred Owen’s poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth”. I will examine how his use of defamiliarization affects the reader in their understanding of the poem. To defamiliarize is to “make (something) unfamiliar or strange” (Definition of Defamiliarize. www.oxforddictionaries.com. 29 Nov 2013). This involves making the words seem different to the reader that they have a hidden meaning, it makes it strange to the reader. It encourages the reader to

  • Analysis Of Sylvia Plath's Poetry

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    emphasized credulity, consistency, and emotional identification of the reader to the work of art. Horace and Longinus talk of moral, aesthetic experience and effect of and intention of the work. However, Shlovsky, the one who introduce the term of defamiliarization sees art for innovation, in language as well as form, and seeks to bring poetry into the realm of science and emphasizes technique. He wants poetry to shock the readers into true perception. Plath has managed to do that. Her poem hardly fits

  • Magical Realism as Applied to the Field of Psychology Literature Essays Literary Criticism

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    the merging of the two different worlds in Magical Realism, this merging of Genie's world into the socialized world became essential to the understanding of linguistic acquisition. Defamiliarization, another Magical Realist characteristic, is often employed by Magical Realist authors. The concept of defamiliarization involves an element of reality that is usually overlooked. This element is explored to new depths and understanding (Simpkins 150). This literary device can be applied to everyday life

  • Analysis of The Metamorphosis

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Analysis of The Metamorphosis This story "The Metamorphosis" is about Gregor, a workaholic, who is changed into an insect and must then deal with his present reality. The hardest part of being an insect for him was the alienation from his family, which eventually leads to his death. In reading the short story "The Metamorphosis," (1971),one can realize how small the difference is between Magical Realism and Fantastic. This literature written by the Austrian, Franz Kafka, is often debated over

  • Linking Magical Realism and the Sublime in A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    the first place seems very acceptable to the characters, and this nonchalance is conveyed to the reader. To take an idea or an object that one is familiar with and distorting that image into something unfamiliar is called defamiliarization (Simkins 150). This use of defamiliarization is a very important characteristic of both Magical Realism as well as the Sublime. An angel is something with which most are somewhat familiar; however, Marquez's angel is a completely different type of angel. One e...

  • Victor Sklovsky's Theory Of Prose

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    of art as a means of experiencing life, Victor Shklovsky’s “Theory of Prose” employs a formalist perspective, focusing on textual features of literature to reinforce the importance of defamiliarization in arousing the

  • Magical Realism as Applied to the Field of Psychology

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Magical Realism as Applied to the Field of Psychology Throughout time, one finds many different categories of literature. Magical Realism, a relatively new category, seems to be one of, if not the most, controversial category of the last century. Magical Realism combines a magical, often grotesque, element with a reality based background and allows the reader to view life in a more profound way. The field of psychology, specifically the case of the Wild Child known as Genie, parallels very closely

  • Magical Realism and Man's Search For Meaning

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    Search For Meaning. The magical realist characteristics that relate to this story include defamiliarization and supplementation. Through Man's Search For Meaning, Frankl explores "a reality which is already in and of itself magical or fantastic" (Simpkins 149). It tries to magnify and enlarge the small amd simple things in life. Defamiliariazation is used through human life (Simpkins 150). Defamiliarization is when an object that is common and everyday is shown in a new way that one never saw or

  • Feminism In Octavia Butler's Dawn

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    lens of feminism are applied as Lilith is confronted with how her own identity and more uniquely her femininity, mixes with that of the others. Using a woman as the human spokesperson on behalf of the aliens the author utilizes methods such as defamiliarization, image-of-women, and women’s agency to build a feminist perspective throughout the

  • An Analysis Of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    literature to prove that an objective reality does not exist. Fictional books allow readers to connect to the characters more easily and therefore understand the various perspectives of characters. In her novel The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan uses defamiliarization to show the reader perspectives on America that they may be unaware of. Tan proves that there is no absolute reality of America and its culture. Ultimately, Tan successfully utilizes this technique to insight her audience of readers with new

  • Defining the Boundaries of Magical Realism in The Porcelain Doll

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    Defining the Boundaries of Magical Realism in The Porcelain Doll Scholars have debated the defining characteristics of Magical Realism since its infancy as an emerging art form in the early twentieth century. From Franz Roh, the art critic who coined the term Magical Realism, to contemporary leading scholars such as Amaryll Chanady, a myriad of confusion has surrounded this term. In an effort to narrow the defining boundaries of what constitutes Magical Realism, short stories labeled as Magical

  • Analysis Of Bloodchild By Olivia Butler

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Olivia Butler writes in the afterword of “Bloodchild” that it’s not a story of slavery, and evidence from close reading can be used to support this statement. Butler uses the human form as a vehicle for defamiliarization to show the mechanical functions readers serve themselves and others. Furthermore, this process is able to reveal their passive nature and ultimately highlight the human allowance for manipulation. She brings light to these behaviors by showing a lack of respect for human life, an

  • Creative Writing: The Landscape By Banks

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is the first book I read by Banks and I found it incredibly well-written. I really believe that the clue is in its title, that is, to what extent we are complicit in what happens to us. Probably it is one of the best genre fictions I have ever read. The landscape is given so vivid that I thought I was travelling in the Scottish mountains. As a natural reader, I was really moved in a peculiar way when I found myself to be a part of this book. There is a story, coherency and emotion in the book

  • Cross Cultural Criticism

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    “simplistic better-worse” judgements (1986:139). In order to evoke a “common capacity for communication” and “shared membership in a global system”, Marcus and Fischer propose two techniques for cultural criticism (1986:139): defamiliarization by epistemological critique and defamiliarization by cross-cultural juxtaposition (1986:137-38). The authors emphasize the importance of ethnographies that are “equally committed in their own contexts and equally engaged in cultural criticism” (Marcus and Fischer 1986:139)

  • Post Modernism in Architecture

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    An architect’s goal is to design appropriately to the time. In the mid to late twentieth century post-modernist such as Venturi found the purism and oversimplification of modernism lacking. Venturi recognized that the world is not simple in nature, but full of complexity and contradictions. Post-modernists aim for an implicit richness of meaning through complexity and contradiction rather than an oversimplified blatant clarity of meaning. A building is basically comprised of a variety of paradoxes

  • Caryl Churchill Influence On Cloud Nine

    1595 Words  | 4 Pages

    Caryl Churchill is a playwright much influenced by theatrical past, present, and future. Her work in the 1970s with the emergent Feminist movement produced a collection of plays that are in direct dialogue with the social and political climate of that time (Worthen 842). Similarly, many of her later plays look to the issues of tomorrow; A Number, for example, deals with a range of issues caused by human cloning. Influences from the past are just as pertinent to Churchill’s plays, but are sometimes

  • “The Imagination of Nature, Through it the Tells of Life”

    1873 Words  | 4 Pages

    for he had been hindered from walking by a misfortunate accident earlier in the day. This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison contains three stanzas which hold seventy eight lines. Coleridge uses a simple conversation to start his poem, one without defamiliarization, “Well, they are all gone, and here must I remain, This lime-tree bower my prison!” (Coleridge). The simple introduction to the first stanza produces a perturbed tone towards his poem. He seems frustrated at the fact that he is unable to travel

  • Cultural Relativism In Eagle Huntress

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout this unit, a lot was learned about culture. Cultural Relativism is a counter of Ethnocentrism, however Ethnocentrism is countered by Ex-centricity. All of these are a way to understand and compare culture, but they are all different and unique. For example, Cultural relativism is examining each culture individually and accepting each culture as unique and not judged by the standards of another culture. On the other hand, Ethnocentrism is countered by this. This is because Ethnocentrism