Reflection 5
Tuesday, March 1, 2010
Reflecting on today’s lesson, I learned that one way a plot makes a story is by defamiliarization introduced by Viktor Shklovsky. By defamiliarizing there is no choice but to pay attention to something in the text and it is accomplished by the way it is presented, in that, it is so different it becomes unfamiliar. The film clip today was from “Bananas” demonstrating the use of defamiliarization in an adequate manner. It was done by exaggeration or amplification through the use of satire and parody. It was humorous.
After further study I have found that Tolstoy defended these techniques by making “…the familiar seem strange by not naming the familiar object. He describes an object as if he were seeing it for the first time, an event as if it were happening for the first time " (Shklovsky 2). Tolstoy was not the only one using this technique. Through the eyes of Aristotle, appearing strange and wonderful was part of the poetic language.
Dr. Wexler gave an excellent description of structuralism reminding me of algebra: a =b+c. The derivative of this algebraic equation is: sign [a] equals: the signifier [b] (visual, aural), plus the signified [c] (mental concept). The cultural meaning of sign is reality and signs are always relational like cat is to dog (use of binaries). This relation is arbitrary as visual competes with mental concept. The fun side of this lecture was trying to call out the signifier and the signified from magazine pages. You could feel the excitement in class.Word Count: 258
Works Cited
“Art as Technique.” Vahid’s Official Website” 1921. Web.
22 February 2011.
http://www.vahidnab.com/defam.htm 22 February 2011.
Leitch, Vincent B., ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.
New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2010. Print.
Viktor
Shklovsky
Ferdinand De Saussure
