Russian Formalism as Journalistic Scholarship; or, When Criticism Recognized Itself as a Genre

Abstract This article argues that Viktor Shklovsky and his allies’ theory cannot be duly appreciated understood without accounting for their engagement in journalism. The latter was both practiced theorized by Shklovsky’s group of the Russian Formalists, which stood out as a then rare combination rigorous extreme performativity. Accordingly, there disagreement among Formalists group. On one hand, they did not want kind criticism is published periodicals holds sway over contemporary writers to naïve banter—the would rather recognize literariness literature hew patterns laws discovered. other applied these literary own writing, creative or not, why wrote he fish zoologist fish. Hence Formalists’ desire make scholarship performative. conflict between rigor performativity could resolved only periodical, while this explains, had problem with issuing fully own, magazine Petersburg short-lived exception. little studied it largely important—for history Formalism, well journalism per se, 1920s Russia recognized new modus vivendi factography ( literatura fakta ). leading genre feuilleton, from genre’s standpoint analyzes Petersburg, and, second part, compares another magazine—the famous Library Reading , run Osip Senkovsky, prominent feuilletonists nineteenth century. comparison Senkovsky editors magazines makes possible appreciate vivid exceptions but very rule—a particular canon its unique approach culture became relevant advent fragmentation our civilization remains so day.