Knight's Move (Dalkey Archive Scholarly) [Paperback]

Viktor Shklovsky (Author), Richard Sheldon (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Dalkey Archive Scholarly | Publication Date: July 2005

Drawing on chess terminology, Shklovsky explains his title in the first preface, stating that it has three meanings: 1) the conventions of art: the knight moves in an L-shape because of such a convention; 2) the non-freedom of art: the knight moves sideways because other directions are forbidden to it; and 3) the plight of Shklovsky himself, referring to his escape from Russia in March of 1922. Using this metaphor as the frame for the thirty-six essays collected here, Shklovsky explores the nature of art, defending the interdependence of art while demonstrating the new formalist criticism for which he is famous. In pieces on theatre, painting, and sculpture, the primary argument of this book is that artists don't try to copy reality, but use reality as the material for creating art.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dalkey continues its project of bringing the Shklovsky canon into English with this set of writings first published the Soviet theatre journal, The Life of Art, between 1919-1921-years when, Shklovsky says, Russian people were "capable of eating human flesh," so great was the post-revolutionary set of privations. In it, Shklovsky-in the slow, paratactic, aphoristic style for which he is justly well-known-develops a position against the prevailing Soviet doctrine on what art should be and what it should do. That he does so while paying close attention to the actual social and economic conditions in the nascent Soviet republic is just one of the many delicious ironies of this masterful set of essays. While some remain a little too keyed to the events of the time, most have aged well.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564783855
• ISBN-13: 978-1564783851
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,533,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)