The spectre of formalism: Polemics between Propp and Levi-Strauss as a communicative failure
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2019-2-4-155-169
Abstract
The article dwells on the polemics between V.Ya. Propp and Claude Levi-Strauss concerning Propp’s book “Morphology of the Folktale.” Propp sees the review of his book by Levi-Strauss as a manifestation of aggression. This article discusses the linguistic, ideological and cultural causes of the conflict between the two scholars. While reading the original text of Levi-Strauss’s article, Propp misunderstands some French expressions. Levi-Strauss speaks of Propp’s formalism as in belonging to a certain research school, while Propp perceives the purely methodological argument of Levy-Strauss in an ideological vein, and it begins to appear to him as bordering on a political denunciation. Besides, both scholars are unfamiliar with the rest of each other’s works and have a misconception about each other’s research interests. The reason for that was in the academic isolation in which the Soviet philologist lived in the 1950s. As a result, in a regular review which is reasonably polemical and rather benevolent, Propp sees a challenge to a duel and composes his response as a retaliatory attack.
About the Author
M. A. Guister
Russian State University for the Humanities
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
associate professor
bld. 6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125993
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Review
For citations:
Guister M.A. The spectre of formalism: Polemics between Propp and Levi-Strauss as a communicative failure. Folklore: Structure, Typology, Semiotics. 2019;2(4):155-169. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2019-2-4-155-169
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