Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22210/ur.2020.064.3_4/04
Stylometric Analysis of Slovenian Narrative Literature up to the First Original Slovenian Narrative
Andrejka Žejn
orcid.org/0000-0001-8028-0193
; Institut za slovensku književnost i znanost o književnosti, Ljubljana
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Quantitative approaches in studying literature already have a long tradition, reaching back to the period before digital humanities became an established field in the humanities. An important impetus for the establishment of quantitative methods in the humanities was provided by increasing computer power and increasingly extensive corpuses of machine-readable words. Theoretical concepts refer to the new methodological paradigms as distant reading. Even though it is supposed to replace close reading, it has repeatedly been shown that traditional research forms the necessary basis for relevant quantitative research and new relevant findings. Stylometry, or quantitative analysis of style, applies statistical methods to literary texts. The analysis entails text comparison in terms of similarities and differences in measurable text characteristics, such as the most frequent words. This is a well-proven method, which, however, has certain limitations. Stylometry is a text-immanent method that does not provide absolutely valid answers or general findings about style. In addition, the definition of measurable characteristics and the comparison method used remain in the domain of the researchers and their familiarity with the material. However, it allows a simultaneous overview of a large collection of texts and hence reaches beyond the established canon incorporating trivial literature and translated literature as an important segment of national literature, especially in its early periods. Stylometric analysis identifies text patterns, which can either be confirmed by qualitative research or can indicate the necessity for a new approach to traditional research. The visualization of results of the stylometric analysis of Slovenian narrative literature from the first half of the seventeenth century to the first original Slovenian narrative in 1836 shows the development of Slovenian narrative literature by period, with identifiable hallmarks of certain authors, and within individual periods and genres. Certain links indicate a need for further research.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
256322
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2021.
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