Structural Poetics in Motion: Jan Mukařovský and Roman Jakobson
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2317-4765.rus.2021.189194Keywords:
Jan Mukařovský, Roman Jakobson, Central and Eastern Europe, The Prague School, Structuralism, Literary theory, Structural poetics and aestheticsAbstract
There are many perspectives that we may adopt when writing a history of literary theory and criticism and, in general, a history of literary thought. One of the approaches that I consider stimulating is the mapping of personal relationships between various literary scholars. The study deals with the relationship between two literary scholars: Jan Mukařovský and Roman Jakobson. The study analyses their transformation in the broad context of their life and work, but also in the context of the political and cultural events that took place during their lifetime. The central point of the study is an outline of the epistemological basis of Mukařovský´s and Jakobson´s structural poetics. Five key theoretical and methodological principles are: 1) A work of art is a sui generis phenomenon; 2) The principle of whole and part; 3) Movement. Literature is in constant motion; 4) Working with (literary) material; 5) A work of art is a sign. Art is a system of signs. The study can serve not only to illustrate the rises and falls of one friendship, but also the rises and falls of structuralism – one of the most prominent approaches in modern literary theory.
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