Defamiliarization and the Delayed Perception: A Study in the Art of “A Tale of Two Cities”

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the art of A Tale of Two Cities in the light of defamiliarization and the delayed perception as proposed by Vicktor Shlosvky in his essay, “Art as Device”.  While reading the text of A Tale of Two Cities, it becomes noticeable that Dickens drags the earlier part of the narrative intentionally. He invests ambiguity in the story, switching from France to England, bringing estrangement in the character sketches, while twinning the personas of Darney and Carton and constructs ambiguity with the help of language used in the text. The prolonged depiction of the story, the delayed portrayal of the characters and the ambiguity of the language, all correspond to the device of defamiliarization and delayed perception. This article enquires as to how and why Dickens uses such devices to communicate his message. Hence the research is descriptive and explanatory in nature. The aforementioned devices used by the author have been studied through Close reading method. The selected passages have been read meticulously in the light of Russian Formalistic Approach to discuss the issue.  

Keywords: Defamiliarization, Delayed, Perception, Art, A Tale of Two Cities