Formalism in the New Age

At first glance, few intellectual currents would seem more opposed than Formalism and the New Age movement.

Photo by Bahram Bayat on Unsplash

The former, a school of rigorous, almost scientific literary and art analysis, concerns itself with the objective mechanics of a work — its structure, devices, and internal logic.

The latter, a diffuse and eclectic spiritual movement, champions subjective experience, mystical intuition, and a holistic sense of cosmic interconnectedness.

Formalism seeks to understand how the art object is made; the New Age seeks to experience the transcendent reality to which the object might point.

One is a scalpel for dissection, the other a vessel for reception.

Yet, beneath this opposition lies a fascinating parallel: both movements, in their own distinct ways, are concerned with the power of form to break the chains of habitual perception and reveal a deeper reality.

While their methods and conclusions are worlds apart, Formalism and the New Age can be understood as divergent responses to the same modern predicament: the search for meaning in a world stripped of its traditional anchors.

The most significant chasm between the two philosophies lies in their conception of meaning.