The practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to, or dependence on, external forms, esp. in matters of religion.
A theory of art where the structural qualities (the elements of art and design principles), of a work are paramount
In the problem of necessary judgments, the theory which holds that the necessity of judgments is due to native a priori mental forms.
Any ethical theory in which the basic principles for determining our duties are purely formal. See Ethical formalism and Ethical formalism
A critical perspective that attends mainly to the structure and style of a movie or a group of movies.
a school of economic anthropology which argues that if the concepts of formal economic theory are broadened, they can serve as analytic tools for the study of any economic system.
Formalism in art theory is the belief that aesthetic values can stand alone and that judgments of art can be detached from other considerations such as ethical or social ones. Precedence is given to the purely formal or abstract qualities of the work, those visual elements that give it form: line, tone, composition and color.
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
the practice of scrupulous adherence to prescribed or external forms
Focuses on the technical devices and formal patterns of literature as opposed to its subject or social concerns.
The strict adherence to customs, such as religious tenets, no swaying from the straight and narrow path.
An attention to style or composition in an artwork. In formal works, the meaning or story is less important than the way the subject is depicted.
A type of criticism dominant in the early twentieth century that emphasizes the form of an artwork. Two of its prominent schools are Russian formalism, which favors the form of an artwork over its content and argues for the necessity of literature to defamiliarize the ordinary objects of the world, and American NEW CRITICISM, which treats a work of art as an object and seeks to understand it through close reading.
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.
Any art or art criticism that emphasizes compositional elements (color, line, shape, texture) over content (subject, meaning).
Art or art criticism that focuses on form (colour, texture, line) rather than the content of the work of art.
the exclusive attention to form; frequently applied to art which is dependent on stylized shapes and compositions. Contrast naturalism. (ATA fig. 2-6)
In literary criticism, the belief that literature should follow prescribed rules of construction, such as those that govern the sonnet form. Examples of formalism are found in the work of the New Critics and structuralists.
In art theory formalism is the concept that a work's artistic value is entirely determined by its form--the way it is made, its purely visual aspects and its medium. Formalism emphasizes compositional elements such as color, line, shape and texture rather than realism, context, and content. Formalism dominated modern art from the late 1800s through the 1960s.
In literary studies, formalism sometimes refers to inquiry into the form (rather than the content) of works of literature, but usually refers broadly to approaches to interpreting or evaluating literary works that focus on features of the text itself (especially properties of its language) rather than on the contexts of its creation (biographical, historical or intellectual) or the contexts of its reception.