User:Patrick.collin.arbo/Organic unity
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Organic unity[edit]
Organic unity is the balance, perpetual exchange, seamless connection or productive coexistence of both the content of a work, and the form of the work through which the content is presented. This term also refers to the ability of a work to take on the properties of a living thing, in that its parts rely on one another so heavily, and necessarily, that each is of equal importance. The idea has its origins in the writings of the early Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato. The practice of seeking out this quality in literature, was of heavy importance to New Criticism participants including such figures as T.S. Eliot, F.R. Leavis and William Empson – but especially Cleanth Brooks. In The Well Wrought Urn, Brooks writes: “The structure meant is a structure of meanings, evaluations, and interpretations; and the principle of unity which informs it seems to be one of balancing and harmonizing connotations, attitudes, and meanings.” (P. 195) Further, he elaborates that the “unity is not a unity of the sort to be achieved by the reduction and simplification appropriate to an algebraic formula. It is a positive unity, not a negative; it represents not a residue but an achieved harmony.” (P. 195) Main tenants of the deconstructionist movement can be seen as direct responses to the practice of assessing organic unity. In Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, Peter Berry states that the deconstructionist “practices what has been called textual harassment or oppisitional reading, reading with the aim of unmasking internal contradictions or inconsistencies in the text, so as to show the disunity which underlies its apparent unity.”(P. 72) For an insightful model of organic unity, visit Karl Cleveland’s multimedia representation by clicking here.
Bibliography[edit]
-Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory:An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. New York: Manchester University Press. (2002)
-Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace and Company. (1975)
-Cleveland, Karl. "Organic Unity". Online. (Last Update 2007) http://karlcleveland.com/157/unity.html