Russian formalism

Russian Formalism was a school of literary critics who believed that analyzing a work of literature should focus on the form of the work (also known as its shape), rather than the content. They believed that each type of literature had its own unique set of rules and characteristics that set it apart from other types of literature, and that a critic should focus on those rules in order to really understand what the piece is trying to say. They argued that literature should be understood as a creation of an individual artist, and should be evaluated without regard to political or philosophical themes in the work.