Viktor Shklovsky

Shklovsky and Mayakovsky on the beach on the Norderney island, Germany, 1923. Photo by Osip Brik (often misattributed to Rodchenko).
Born	January 24, 1893(1893-01-24) St Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	December 6, 1984(1984-12-06) (aged 91) Moscow, Soviet Union
Web	Aaaaarg, Wikipedia, Open Library, Open Library, Academia.edu

Lilya Brik and Viktor Shklovsky in Mayakovsky's dacha, 1925. Photo by Rodchenko.

Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky (Виктор Борисович Шкловский; 1893–1984) was a Russian and Soviet literary theorist, critic, novelist, and pamphleteer. He was a major voice of Formalism, a critical school that had great influence in Russian literature in the 1920s.

Educated at the University of St. Petersburg, Shklovsky helped found OPOYAZ, the Society for the Study of Poetic Language, in 1914. He was also connected with the Serapion Brothers, a collective of writers that began meeting in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in 1921. Both groups felt that literature's importance lay primarily not in its social content but rather in its independent creation of language. In O teorii prozy (1925) and "Metod pisatelskogo masterstva" (1928), Shklovsky argued that literature is a collection of stylistic and formal devices that force the reader to view the world afresh by presenting old ideas or mundane experiences in new, unusual ways. His concept of ostranenie, or "making it strange", was his chief contribution to Russian Formalist theory.

Shklovsky also wrote autobiographical novels, chiefly Sentimentalnoye puteshestvie: vospominaniya, a widely acclaimed memoir of life during the early years of Bolshevik rule; and Zoo. Pisma ne o lyubvi, ili Tretya Eloiza. Both of these books were published in 1923, during a period (1922-23) when he lived in Berlin. He returned permanently to the Soviet Union in the latter year, at which time the Soviet authorities dissolved OPOYAZ, obliging Shklovsky to join other state-sanctioned literary organs. With his essay "Monument to a Scholarly Error" (1930), he finally bowed to the Stalinist authorities' displeasure with Formalism. Thereafter, he tried to adapt the theory of the accepted doctrine of Socialist Realism. He continued to write voluminously, publishing historical novels, film criticism, and highly praised studies of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Mayakovsky. (Source).

Works

Books

• Sentimentalnoye puteshestviye [Сентиментальное путешествие], 1923. (Russian)
  • A Sentimental Journey: Memoirs, 1917-1922, trans. Richard Sheldon, Cornell University Press, 1970, xlvii+304 pp. (English)

• Zoo. Pisma ne o lyubvi ili Tretya Eloiza [Zoo. Письма не о любви или Третья Элоиза], Berlin: Gelikon, 1923; Leningrad, 1924; 1929. (Russian)
  • "ZOO ili pisma ne o ljubavi", in Shklovski, ZOO ili pisma ne o ljubavi; Treća fabrika, trans. Lidija Subotin, Belgrade, 1966. (Serbian)
  • Zoo, or Letters Not About Love, trans. Richard Sheldon, 1971. Epistolary novel.
  • ZOO alebo Listy vôbec nie o láske, trans. Kristína Karabová, Bratislava: Brak, 2022, 220 pp. [1] (Slovak)

• Khod konia [Ход коня], Moscow/Berlin: Gelikon, 1923. Collection of essays first published in the Soviet theatre journal The Life of Art. (Russian)
  • Knight's Move, trans. & intro. Richard Shelton, Elmwood Park, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 2005. (English)

• Literatura i kinematograf [Литература и кинематограф], Berlin, 1923. Collection of essays. (Russian)
  • "Literature and Cinema (Extracts)", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. Trans. of pp 33-59 from 1923 edition. (English)
  • Literature and Cinematography, trans. Irina Masinovsky, intro. Richard Sheldon, Dalkey Archive Press, 2008, 75 pp. [2] (English)

• O teorii prozy [О теории прозы], Moscow/Leningrad, 1925; 2nd ed., Moscow: Federatsiya, 1929, HTML, PDF; new ed., Moscow: Sovetskii pisatel, 1983, 384 pp, HTML. (Russian)
  • Theory of Prose, intro. Gerald L. Bruns, trans. & intro. Benjamin Sher, Elmwood Park, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 1990. Trans. of 2nd ed. (English)

• Tretya fabrika, Moscow: Krug, 1926. His third volume of autobiography; written while working at the Third Goskino Factory. (Russian)
  • "Treća fabrika", in Shklovski, ZOO ili pisma ne o ljubavi; Treća fabrika, trans. Lidija Subotin, Belgrade, 1966. (Serbian)
  • Third Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Sheldon, Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1977, xxx+121 pp. (English)

• Tekhnika pisatelskogo remesla [Техника писательского ремесла], Moscow/Leningrad, 1927. (Russian)

• Poiski optimizma [Поиски оптимизма], Moscow: Federatsiya, 1931. (Russian)
  • A Hunt for Optimism, trans. Shushan Avagyan, Dalkey Archive Press, 2012. (English)

• Zametki o proze Pushkina [Заметки о прозе Пушкина], 1937. (Russian)

• O Mayakovskom [О Маяковском], Moscow: Sovetskii pisatel, 1940, 223 pp. About the times of poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. (Russian)
  • Mayakovsky and His Circle, ed. & trans. Lily Feiler, New York, 1972, xxiv+259 pp. (English)

• Lev Tolstoy [Лев Толстой], Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya, 1963. (Russian)
  • Leo Tolstoy, trans. Olga Shartse, Raduga, 1996, 668 pp. (English)

• Tetiva: o neskhodstve skhodnogo [Тетива: о несходстве сходного], Moscow: Sovetskii pisatel, 1970, 376 pp; repr. in Shklovsky, Izbrannoe: v 2-kh tomakh, vol. 2, Moscow, 1983, pp 4-306, HTML. (Russian)
  • Bowstring: On the Dissimilarity of the Similar, trans. Shushan Avagyan, Dalkey Archive Press, 2011, 456 pp. Reviews: Stone (Cinq 2011), Folz (LARB 2012). (English)

• Energiya zabluzhdeniya. Kniga o syuzhete [Энергия заблуждения. Книга о сюжете], Moscow: Sovetskii pisatel, 1981, 352 pp. (Russian)
  • Energy of Delusion: A Book on Plot, trans. Shushan Avagyan, Dalkney Archive Press, 2007, ix+427 pp. (English)

• Sobranie sochineniy, 3 vols., Moscow, 1973-74. (Russian)

• Izbrannoe: v 2-kh tomakh, Moscow: Khudozhest, 1983, 639 & 636 pp, HTML/1, HTML/2. (Russian)

• Gamburgskiy schet: stati, vospominaniya, esse, 1914-1933 [Гамбургский счет: статьи, воспоминания, эссе, 1914-1933], Moscow, 1990. [3] (Russian)

• Viktor Shklovsky: A Reader, Bloomsbury Academic, 2016, 416 pp. Review: West (LARB). (English)

More.

Articles

• "Tekhnika romana tayn" [Техника романа тайн], Lef 4 (1923), pp 125-155. (Russian)
• "Lenin, kak dekanonizator" [Ленин, как деканонизатор], Lef 5 (1924), pp 53-56. (Russian)
• "Piotrovsky A. Padenie Eleny Ley. Bez mesta. 1923" [Пиотровский А. Падение Елены Лей. Без места. 1923], Lef 5 (1924), p 151. Review. (Russian)
• "I. Babel: (Kriticheskiy romans)" [И. Бабель: (Критический романс)], Lef 6 (1924), pp 152-155. (Russian)
• "O Pilnyake" [О Пильняке], Lef 7 (1925), pp 126-136. (Russian)
• "Semantika kino", Kinozhurnal A.R.K. 8 (Aug 1925), p 5. (Russian)
  • "The Semantics of Cinema", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Kuda shagaet Dziga Vertov?", Sovetskii ekran, 14 Aug 1926, p 4. (Russian)
  • "Where is Dziga Vertov Striding?", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Kinoki i nadpisi'", Kino, 30 Oct 1926, p 3. (Russian)
  • "The Cine-Eyes and Intertitles", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "O pisatele" [О писателе], Novyi Lef 1 (Jan 1927), pp 29-33. (Russian)
• "V zashchitu sotsiologicheskogo metoda: (Iz doklada, chitannogo v Leningrade 6/III 1927 g.)" [В защиту социологического метода: (Из доклада, читанного в Ленинграде 6/III 1927 г.)], Novyi Lef 3 (Mar 1927), pp 20-25. (Russian)
• "Sergei Eyzenshteyn i 'neigrovaya filma'" [Сергей Эйзенштейн и "неигровая фильма"], Novyi Lef 4 (Apr 1927) pp 34-35. (Russian)
  • "Sergei Eisenstein and 'Non-Played Film'", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Bunin I. Mitina lyubov'. Bez mesta. Bez goda" [Бунин И. Митина любовь. Без места. Без года], Novyi Lef 4 (Apr 1927), pp 43-45. Review. (Russian)
• "60 dney bez sluzhby" [60 дней без службы], Novyi Lef 6 (Jun 1927), pp 17-32. (Russian)
• "Literaturnyy opyt ('essai') v yego formal'nom okruzhenii" [Литературный опыт ("essai") в его формальном окружении], Novyi Lef 6 (Jun 1927), pp 39-47. (Russian)
• "Temperatura kino’", Sovetskii ekran, 21 Jun 1927, p 10. (Russian)
  • "The Temperature of Cinema", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• in Shklovsky, Motalka, Moscow, 1927. (Russian)
  • "The Film Factory (Extracts)", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• in Poetika kino, ed. M. Eikhenbaum, Moscow, 1927, pp 139-142. (Russian)
  • "Poetry and Prose in Cinema", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Po povodu kartiny Esfir' Shub" [По поводу картины Эсфирь Шуб], Novyi Lef 8-9 (Aug-Sep 1927), pp 52-54. (Russian)
• "Voyna i mir Lva Tolstogo: (Plan issledovaniya)" [Война и мир Льва Толстого: (План исследования)], Novyi Lef 10 (Oct 1927), pp 20-24. (Russian)
• "Oshibki i izobreteniya: (Diskussionno)" [Ошибки и изобретения: (Дискуссионно)], Novyi Lef 11-12 (Nov-Dec 1927), pp 29-33. (Russian)
  • "Mistakes and Inventions", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Voyna i mir L. Tolstogo: (Formalno-sotsiologicheskoe issledovanie)" [Война и мир Л. Толстого: (Формально-социологическое исследование)], Novyi Lef 1 (Jan 1928), pp 21-37. (Russian)
• "Voyna i mir L. Tolstogo: (Formalno-sotsiologicheskoe issledovanie)" [Война и мир Л. Толстого: (Формально-социологическое исследование)], Novyi Lef 2 (Feb 1928), pp 14-24. (Russian)
• "Neskol'ko slov o chetyrekhstakh millionakh: (O knige S. Tret'yakova Chzhungo)" [Несколько слов о четырехстах миллионах: (О книге С. Третьякова Чжунго)], Novyi Lef 3 (Mar 1928), pp 41-44. (Russian)
• "Voyna i mir L. Tolstogo" [Война и мир Л. Толстого], Novyi Lef 4 (Apr 1928), pp 5-13. (Russian)
• "Prichiny neudachi" [Причины неудачи], Novyi Lef 4 (Apr 1928), pp 34-35. (Russian)
• "Voyna i mir L. Tolstogo" [Война и мир Л. Толстого], Novyi Lef 5 (May 1928), pp 5-15. (Russian)
• "Voyna i mir L. Tolstogo" [Война и мир Л. Толстого], Novyi Lef 6 (Jun 1928), pp 14-21. (Russian)
• "O samom znamenitom pisatele" [О самом знаменитом писателе], Novyi Lef 8 (Aug 1928), pp 24-30. (Russian)
• "Kitovyye meli i farvatery" [Китовые мели и фарватеры], Novyi Lef 9 (Sep 1928), pp 27-30. (Russian)
• "Gor'kiy kak retsenzent" [Горький как рецензент], Novyi Lef 9 (Sep 1928), pp 42-44. (Russian)
• "Dokumentalnyy Tolstoy" [Документальный Толстой], Novyi Lef 10 (Oct 1928), pp 34-36. (Russian)
• "Pod znakom razdelitelnym" [Под знаком разделительным], Novyi Lef 11 (Nov 1928), pp 44-46. (Russian)
• "Gorkiy M. Rabsel'koram i voyenkoram: O tom, kak ya uchilsya pisat'. Bez mesta: 1928" [Горький М. Рабселькорам и военкорам: О том, как я учился писать. Без места: 1928], Novyi Lef 11 (Nov 1928), pp 47-48. (Russian)
• "Sovetskaya shkola aktërskoi igry’", Sovetskii ekran, 20 Nov 1928, p 4. (Russian)
  • "The Soviet School of Acting", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Beregites’ muzyki’", Sovetskii ekran, 1 Jan 1929, p 6. (Russian)
  • "Beware of Music", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Laboratoriya stsenariya’", Kino i zhizn’ 17 (mid-June 1930), pp 6-7. (Russian)
  • "The Script Laboratory", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Zvuk – smyslovoi znak’", Kino i zhizn’ 25 (Oct 1930), pp 17-18. (Russian)
  • "Sound as a Semantic Sign", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)
• "Kinoyazyk Novogo Vavilona", in Shklovsky, Podenshchina, Leningrad, 1930, pp 147-157. (Russian)
  • "The Film Language of New Babylon", in The Film Factory, ed. & trans. Richard Taylor, Routledge, 1988. (English)

• "On Eisenstein" [1964], trans. Benjamin Sher, 1991. (English)
• "Five Feuilletons on Sergei Eisenstein", trans. Adam Siegel, n.d. (English)

Film scripts

• Prostitutka, dir. Oleg Frelikh.
• Krylya kholopa, 1926.
• Po zakonu [By the Law], 1926, dir. Lev Kuleshov, based on a story by Jack London.
• Predatel, 1926, dir. Abram Room.
• Tretya meshchanskaya [Bed and Sofa], 1927, dir. Abram Room. Vimeo, WP.
• Ukhaby, 1927, dir. Abram Room.
• Evrei i zemlya, documentary, 1927.
• Ledyanoy dom [The House of Ice], 1928, dir. Konstantin Eggert, based on the eponymous novel by Ivan Lazhechnikov.
• Dva bronevika, 1928.
• Dom na Trubnoy [The House on Trubnaya], 1928, dir. Boris Barnet.
• Kazaki, 1928, Georgia.
• Obod, 1928, Georgia.
• Kapitanskaya dochka, 1928.
• Krazana, 1928, dir. Kote Mardjanishvili, based on the novel The Gadfly by Ethel Lilian Voynich.
• Turksib, documentary, 1929, dir. Viktor Alexandrovitsh Turin.
• Amerikanka, 1930, Georgia, dir. Leo Esakya.
• Otchim, 1930, Georgia.
• The Horizon, 1932, dir. Lev Kuleshov.
• Minin and Pozharsky, 1939, dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin.
• The Gadfly, 1956, dir. Aleksandr Faintsimmer, based on the eponypous novel by Ethel Lilian Voynich.
• Kazaki, 1961, dir. Vasili Pronin.

More

Bibliography

• Richard Robert Sheldon, Viktor Shklovsky: An International Bibliography of Works By and About Him, Ardis, 1977, 130 pp.

Interviews

• Testimone di un'epoca: conversazioni con Serena Vitale, Rome: Riuniti, 1979, 167 pp. (Italian)
  • Shklovsky: Witness to an Era, trans. Jamie Richards, Dalkey Archive Press, 2012. (English)

Literature

• Verena Dohrn, Die Literaturfabrik: die frühe autobiographische Prosa V. B. Šklovskijs - ein Versuch zur Bewältigung der Krise der Avantgarde, Munich: Sagner, 1987, 251 pp. (German)
• Meir Sternberg, "Telling in Time (III): Chronology, Estrangement, and Stories of Literary History", Poetics Today 27:1 (Spring 2006), pp 125-235. (English)
• Rosemari Elizabeth Baker, Shklovsky in the Cinema, 1926-1932, Durham University, 2010, 209 pp. Master's thesis. (English)
• Sara Pankenier Weld, "Infant Eye: Viktor Shklovsky, the Naive Perspective, and Formalist Theory", ch 3 in Weld, Voiceless Vanguard: The Infantilist Aesthetic of the Russian Avant-Garde, Northwestern University Press, 2014, pp 105-155. [4] (English)
• Anthony Iles, Viktor Shklovsky in the Film Factory, London, 2015, [23] pp. [5] (English)