Which critical approach emphasizes formal features of a text over biographical or historical context?

Which critical approach emphasizes formal features of a text over biographical or historical context?

• A. Structuralist Criticism
• B. Allegory
• C. Dystopia
• D. Formalist Criticism

Answer: (B)

Analyzing a text through its formal features alone, treating the work as an autonomous artifact rather than looking at the author’s life or the historical moment. That approach is Formalist Criticism, which focuses on elements such as structure, diction, imagery, and form to uncover how the text produces meaning, without relying on biographical or historical context. Allegory, in contrast, centers on symbolic meanings and moral or political messages derived from the narrative, not on its formal construction.

Analyzing a text through its formal features alone, treating the work as an autonomous artifact rather than looking at the author’s life or the historical moment. That approach is Formalist Criticism, which focuses on elements such as structure, diction, imagery, and form to uncover how the text produces meaning, without relying on biographical or historical context. Allegory, in contrast, centers on symbolic meanings and moral or political messages derived from the narrative, not on its formal construction.