Modernism and Formalism: Discussing the 4th volume of “The Formal Method (An Anthology of Russian Modernism)”

Abstract

In 2023 the “Kabinetnyj uchenyj” Press published the 4th volume of “The Formal Method” anthology of Russian Modernism (compiled and edited by Serguei Oushakine, Professor of the Princeton University). The anthology comprises the texts by leading theorists of modernism. On July 11, 2024, two faculty members of the EUSP and the moderator Maksim Mamlyga discussed the publication at the “Podpisnye izdaniia” bookstore: the composition of the authors, the principles of text selection by the compiler, the ideology of writing the introductory articles, as well as the very concepts that gave the anthology its name. What is the logic of the “formal method”, how the concepts of formalism and modernism relate, what do the authors have in common in terms of their vision of culture? What are the points of similarity and the differences between their ideas? Why could this anthology be useful for the audience specializing in cultural history and history of art as well as for the general public? Why did formalism become the most important Russian contribution to the 20th century humanities and to the intellectual history? Finally, who are the authors whose texts should be included into such an anthology according to the discussants?