Bridging Formalism and Stylistics

A Dual Approach to Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”

Abstract

The study explores Elizabeth Bishop's poem One Art (1976) using a bridged approach, combining Russian formalist theories and Geoffrey Leech's stylistic framework to provide a multifaceted analysis of the selected poem. This study aims to demonstrate that the poem’s true artistic value, arguing that a comprehensive understanding of the poem requires a combination of these approaches beyond solely lens analysis. Both approaches shed light on the text itself. Also, this study fills a gap in current literature, using a qualitative descriptive method, it offers an in-depth analysis of the text’s formal elements, such as defamiliarization, figurative language, and form integrated with stylistic elements like graphological, lexical, and discoursal levels, by giving a better understanding of both structure and emotional content. Based on the findings of this study, it has been determined that formalism and stylistics do not oppose but rather complement each other. It examined how fabula and syuzhet work together and focused on defamiliarization as the poem’s main impact. It revealed the villanelle structure and Bishop’s stylistic choices defamiliarize the experience of loss, revealing a complex struggle rather than mastery, and highlighting the use of formalist and stylistic analysis to confront human suffering.