The Structure of Literature is a 1954 book of literary criticism by Paul
Goodman, the published version of his doctoral dissertation. It proposes
a mode of formal literary analysis in which Goodman defines a formal
structure within an isolated literary work, finds how parts of the work
interact with each other to form a whole, and uses those definitions to
study other works. He analyzes multiple literary works as examples with
close reading and genre discussion. Goodman finished his dissertation in
1940, but took 14 years to publish it. In mixed reviews, critics
described the book as falling short of its aims; engaging psychological
insight and incisive asides were mired in glaring style issues and
jargon that made passages impenetrable or obscured his argument. Though
Goodman contributed to the development of the Chicago School of
Aristotelian formal literary criticism, he neither received wide
academic recognition for his dissertation nor was his method accepted by
his field.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_of_Literature>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre established the Cult
of the Supreme Being as the new state religion of the French First
Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Supreme_Being>
1798:
War of the First Coalition: A British garrison repelled a
French attack on the Îles Saint-Marcouf off the Normandy coast,
inflicting heavy losses.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_%C3%8Eles_Saint-Marcouf>
1937:
Employees at Fleischer Studios in New York City went on strike
in the animation industry's first major labor strike.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Fleischer_Studios_strike>
1946:
Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded the telecommunications
corporation Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, later renamed Sony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
kugel:
1. A traditional savoury or sweet Jewish dish consisting of a baked
pudding of pasta, potatoes, or rice, with vegetables, or raisins and
spices.
2. A traditional hanging ornament of German origin made of coloured
glass, usually spherical but also produced in other shapes such as
bunches of grapes and drops.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kugel>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hear the verbal protestations of all men: Nothing so certain as
their religious tenets. Examine their lives: You will scarcely think
that they repose the smallest confidence in them.
--David Hume
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hume>
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