Defamiliarization (ostranenie) is a foundational concept in Russian Formalism, famously articulated by Viktor Shklovsky. It refers to the artistic technique of presenting common things in an unfamiliar or strange way to enhance perception and counter the numbing effects of habit. By making the familiar seem strange, art forces the reader to engage more deeply with the form and content of the work.

Both structuralism and formalism prioritize the internal mechanics of the text over external factors like biography or history. They seek to establish a 'scientific' or systematic methodology for literary analysis by focusing on the formal properties, linguistic patterns, and structural elements that constitute a work. By treating the text as an autonomous object, they aim to uncover universal principles governing literary production and meaning.

F.R. Leavis, a highly influential 20th-century critic, was known for his rigorous and often exclusionary standards regarding the English literary canon. In his critical works, he frequently reassessed the reputations of various poets, often dismissing those whose work he felt lacked the necessary moral or linguistic seriousness required for the 'Great Tradition' of English literature.

Christopher Ricks is known for his skepticism toward high-level literary theory. He often argues that such theories can be reductive or overly abstract, potentially obscuring the nuanced, concrete details of the literary text itself. He advocates for a more traditional, close-reading approach that prioritizes the specific language and artistic choices of the author.

The Geneva School, which included critics like Georges Poulet and J. Hillis Miller, is famously associated with phenomenological criticism. This approach focuses on the consciousness of the author as it is revealed through the text, seeking to experience the 'inner life' of the work rather than focusing solely on external structures or historical contexts.

Formalism, often associated with New Criticism, treats the literary work as a self-contained object. It emphasizes close reading of the text's internal structure, including irony, paradox, imagery, and syntax. By rejecting the 'intentional fallacy' (the author's intent) and the 'affective fallacy' (the reader's emotional response), Formalists argue that the meaning of a text is found entirely within its own formal properties, independent of the author's life or the historical period.

Formalism, particularly associated with the Russian Formalists and New Critics, focuses exclusively on the internal mechanics of a literary work. It prioritizes elements such as form, structure, syntax, and literary devices like metaphor and irony over external factors like the author's biography, historical setting, or social intent. The goal is to analyze how the text functions as a self-contained aesthetic object.

Paul Fry defines literary theory not merely as a tool or a method, but as a set of foundational assumptions that govern how we approach and understand literary texts. It is the underlying framework that shapes the interpretive process, rather than just a technical practice.

Cleanth Brooks, a central figure in New Criticism, argued against the 'heresy of paraphrase.' He advocated for close reading, emphasizing that a poem is a self-contained, organic whole. His approach seeks a unified interpretation where the internal tensions and paradoxes of the text are resolved, rather than relying on external historical data or reductive summaries.

Literary theory serves as a framework for analyzing and interpreting texts. It provides the tools to examine the complex interplay between the author's intent, the reader's reception, and the text itself. Furthermore, it incorporates diverse lenses—such as gender, race, class, and history—to uncover underlying ideologies and power structures, thereby deepening our understanding of how literature functions within society and culture.