Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist?
In this contribution we discuss what we call the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative for the case of computational literary studies. To better understand the entailed criticism, we start with some background for the non-computational aspects in this narrative. First, we single...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at McGill University
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Cultural Analytics |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.22148/001c.46662 |
| _version_ | 1827117166390935552 |
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| author | Evelyn Gius Janina Jacke |
| author_facet | Evelyn Gius Janina Jacke |
| author_sort | Evelyn Gius |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this contribution we discuss what we call the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative for the case of computational literary studies. To better understand the entailed criticism, we start with some background for the non-computational aspects in this narrative. First, we single out major criticisms against structuralism. We then introduce a general and theory-independent model of literary text analysis and discuss hypothesis development and justification in literary studies. This builds the ground for our analysis of structuralism criticisms in computational literary studies. In our discussion of the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative, we examine the use of computational methods for the exploration and confirmation of interpretation hypotheses and its potential relation to structuralist issues.
We argue that the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative may be productive where it cautions against reductionist approaches, but it is not appropriate for describing exploratory or partial approaches and the presentation of their findings. There, the computational approaches should rather be seen as enabling connectivity and fostering the joint endeavor of understanding. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:20:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26ffa3af472846f38b4f41c45ff46727 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2371-4549 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-20T12:45:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at McGill University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Cultural Analytics |
| spelling | doaj.art-26ffa3af472846f38b4f41c45ff467272024-09-12T22:56:33ZengDepartment of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at McGill UniversityJournal of Cultural Analytics2371-45492022-12-0174Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist?Evelyn GiusJanina JackeIn this contribution we discuss what we call the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative for the case of computational literary studies. To better understand the entailed criticism, we start with some background for the non-computational aspects in this narrative. First, we single out major criticisms against structuralism. We then introduce a general and theory-independent model of literary text analysis and discuss hypothesis development and justification in literary studies. This builds the ground for our analysis of structuralism criticisms in computational literary studies. In our discussion of the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative, we examine the use of computational methods for the exploration and confirmation of interpretation hypotheses and its potential relation to structuralist issues. We argue that the "digital humanities-as-structuralism" narrative may be productive where it cautions against reductionist approaches, but it is not appropriate for describing exploratory or partial approaches and the presentation of their findings. There, the computational approaches should rather be seen as enabling connectivity and fostering the joint endeavor of understanding.https://doi.org/10.22148/001c.46662 |
| spellingShingle | Evelyn Gius Janina Jacke Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist? Journal of Cultural Analytics |
| title | Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist? |
| title_full | Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist? |
| title_fullStr | Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist? |
| title_short | Are Computational Literary Studies Structuralist? |
| title_sort | are computational literary studies structuralist |
| url | https://doi.org/10.22148/001c.46662 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT evelyngius arecomputationalliterarystudiesstructuralist AT janinajacke arecomputationalliterarystudiesstructuralist |