Quantitative literary studies

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Quantitative literary studies (sometimes also: exact literary studies ) is a term for a special discipline in literary studies that the Aachen physicist Wilhelm Fucks (1968: 77, 88) suggests for the statistical analysis of literary texts. “ By mapping facts in texts onto mathematical models, quantitative literary studies can teach us a better understanding of what actually goes on in the author or is done by him when he writes his works. In doing so, the author will generally be hardly aware of what he is formally doing. "Fucks answered the " question about the possibilities and limits of an 'exact' literary study (with strictly formalized descriptions and results that are independent of the individuality of the researcher) " posed by Helmut Kreuzer as early as 1965 in a decidedly positive manner and characterized it as an interdisciplinary area of ​​coverage of quantitative literary studies, Quantitative linguistics and language statistics .

“It is not a question of rejecting the traditional, ideological and form-historical, style-critical and work-interpretative approaches, whose fertility and necessity we definitely affirm [...], but rather the question of whether other methods of text analysis are scientifically meaningful and for the better security and more precise formulation of at least partial results of the older methods can be used. "

The literary scholar Toni Bernhart (2008: 56) later summarizes as follows: "The program term 'quantitative literary studies' can be used to encompass counting, measuring, mathematical, statistical and computer-aided processes, provided they are used in literary studies." and the demonstration area forms the so-called Berlin-Kay hypothesis, which deals with universals in the linguistic capture of colors in the languages ​​of the world.

Historical aspects and topics

In the 19th century statistical studies were carried out on verypes and at the beginning of the 20th century on rhythm.

In the context of trivial literature research in the early 1970s, Burghard Rieger developed quantitative-statistical procedures to determine lexical regularities and their changes over time. In numerical analyzes of the linguistic material of student lyric poetry from over 150 years, poetological norms can be identified and made visible as so-called deviation regularities from the ground-in systems of the trivial , with which their literary-aesthetic evaluation - from the singular metaphor to the mass cliché - can be verified and verified can be proven empirically and quantitatively in detail .

A pioneering collection of essays is the anthology Mathematics and Poetry , edited by Helmut Kreuzer and Rul Gunzenhäuser , which appeared in 1965 and has so far had four editions. Occasionally, statistical procedures are also referred to in the context of literary methodology.

Using the example of Goethe's ballad "Erlkönig", Altmann & Altmann (2008) demonstrate some of the possibilities of applying today's quantitative linguistics to a literary work. Further detailed analyzes apply to the theme of "rhyme" and the sonnets.

In two articles, Grzybek and Kelih (2005) draw attention to the role of quantitative methods in Russian literary studies.

Chronology of verified publications

Another important topic in quantitative literary studies is the question of the identity of anonymous authors. Another subject area is the stylistics carried out with statistical methods , a quantitative stylistics in which individual authors, works, epochs, but also functional styles such as the style of everyday language, the style of the press and journalism etc. are characterized and compared with one another in terms of their language style . The tasks do not only concern literary works, but are also applied to them with profit.

Another topic is the objectification of literary evaluations, which u. a. can be achieved by letting test subjects process a semantic differential .

literature

  • Dieter Aichele: The work of W. Fucks . In: Reinhard Köhler, Gabriel Altmann, Rajmund G. Piotrowski (eds.): Quantitative Linguistics - Quantitative Linguistics. An international manual . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, pp. 152–158. ISBN 3-11-015578-8
  • Toni Bernhart: Adfection of their bodies . Empirical study of the colors in prose by Hans Henny Jahnn. With a foreword by Lutz Danneberg. Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2003. (At the same time dissertation Humboldt University Berlin, 2001). ISBN 978-3-322-81315-2
  • Toni Bernhart: Quantitative literary studies using the example of color semantics. In: Martin Huber, Simone Winko (Hrsg.): Literature and cognition. Inventories and perspectives of a field of work. Mentis, Paderborn 2009, pp. 217-234.
  • Toni Bernhart: The measurement of colors in language. On the Berlin-Kay hypothesis in literary studies. In: Journal for Literary Studies and Linguistics , Issue 150, 2008, pp. 56–78.
  • Norbert Bolz: Obtaining and evaluating quantitative characteristics in statistical style research. In: Bernd Spillner (Ed.): Methods of style analysis. Narr, Tübingen 1984. Pp. 193-222. ISBN 3-87808-255-X
  • Wilhelm Fucks: Mathematical Analysis of Language Elements, Language Style and Languages . West German publishing house, Cologne / Opladen 1955.
  • Wilhelm Fucks: According to all the rules of the art. Diagnoses about literature, music, visual arts - the works, their authors and creators. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1968.
  • Wilhelm Fucks: On the legal concept of an exact literary study, explained using sentences and sentence sequences . In: Journal for Literary Studies and Linguistics 1, Issue 1/2, 1970/71, 113-137.
  • Emmerich Kelih: History of the application of quantitative methods in Russian linguistics and literary studies. Kovač, Hamburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-8300-3575-6 . (At the same time dissertation Graz, 2007. Detailed presentation of the contribution of Russian linguistics and literary studies from the middle of the 19th century, which is particularly important for the development of quantitative / statistical linguistics and literary studies.)
  • Helmut Kreuzer, Rul Gunzenhäuser (ed.): Mathematics and poetry. On the question of an exact literary study. Nymphenburger, Munich 1965, 1967, 1969, 4th, revised edition 1971. ISBN 3-485-03303-0
  • Charles Muller : Introduction to Language Statistics . Hueber, Munich 1972.
  • Ursula Pieper: About the significance of statistical methods for linguistic style analysis. Narr, Tübingen 1979. ISBN 3-87808-355-6
  • Ursula Pieper: Possibilities and limits of a quantitative style. In: Wolfgang Kühlwein, Albert Raasch (Ed.): Style: Components - Effects. Volume I. Narr, Tübingen 1982. pp. 100-105. ISBN 3-87808-911-2
  • Burghard Rieger: Poetae Studiosi. Analysis of student poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries, Thesen Verlag Vowinckel, Frankfurt 1970, ISBN 3-7677-0003-4
  • Burghard Rieger: Literary mass phenomena and volume-oriented text analysis. On the subject and method of trivial literature research in: de la Motte-Haber, H. (Ed.): The trivial in literature, music and visual arts. (V. Klostermann) Frankfurt / Main 1972, pp. 42-62

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Kreuzer 1965, in the foreword to Mathematics and Poetry ; Wilhelm Fucks 1968, pp. 36, 40, passim; Emmerich Kelih: History of the application of quantitative methods in Russian linguistics and literary studies. Kovač, Hamburg 2008, p. 121. ISBN 978-3-8300-3575-6 .
  2. ^ Wilhelm Fucks 1968, p. 88.
  3. ^ H. Kreuzer: Foreword in Kreuzer / Gunzenhäuser 1965, p. 7
  4. ^ H. Kreuzer: Mathematics and Poetry. Introduction to: Kreuzer / Gunzenhäuser 1965, p. 10
  5. ^ Karl-Heinz Best : Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch (1802-1896) . In: Glottometrics 17, 2008, pages 109-114 (PDF full text. ).
  6. ^ Karl-Heinz Best: Siegfried Behn (1884-1970) . In: Glottometrics 13, 2006, pages 85-88 (PDF full text. ). (On the Internet: http://www.glottopedia.de/index.php/Siegfried_Behn_%28de%29 .)
  7. ^ Karl-Heinz Best: Lorenzo Bianchi (1889-1960) . In: Glottometrics 14, 2007, pages 72-74 (PDF full text. ).
  8. ^ Karl-Heinz Best: Karl Marbe (1869-1953) . In: Glottometrics 9, 2005, pages 74-76 (PDF full text. ).
  9. ↑ Manfred Bierwisch : Poetics and Linguistics in: Helmut Kreuzer / Rul Gunzenhäuser (eds.): Mathematics and poetry. Attempts on the question of an exact literary study . Nymphenburger, Munich (1965), 4th revised edition 1971, p. 59 ISBN 3-485-03303-0
  10. ^ Burghard Rieger: Poetae Studiosi , p. 113f.
  11. ^ Joachim Thiele: Statistical Methods. In: Manon Maren Griesebach: Methods of literary studies. Eighth, through. Ed. Francke, Munich 1970, pp. 96-100
  12. ↑ Burghard Rieger: Why set-oriented text science? On the justification of statistics as a method in: Gunzenhäuser, R. (Ed.): Mathematically Oriented Text Studies ( Journal of Literary Studies and Linguistics 8), Athenaeum, Frankfurt / M. 1972, pp. 11-28
  13. ↑ Vivien Altmann, Gabriel Altmann : Instructions for quantitative text analysis. Methods and Applications . RAM-Verlag, Lüdenscheid 2008, page 71f., ISBN 978-3-9802659-5-9 .
  14. ↑ Mihaiela Lupea, Maria Rukk, Ioan-Iovitz Popescu, Gabriel Altmann : Some Properties of Rhyme . RAM-Verlag, Lüdenscheid 2017. ISBN 978-3-942303-62-0 .
  15. ↑ Sergey Andreev, Michal Místecký, Gabriel Altmann: Sonnets: Quantitative Inquiries . RAM-Verlag, Lüdenscheid 2018. ISBN 978-3-942303-71-2 .
  16. ↑ Peter Grzybek , Emmerich Kelih: On the prehistory of quantitative approaches in Russian linguistics and literary studies , in: Reinhard Köhler, Gabriel Altmann, Rajmund G. Piotrowski (eds.): Quantitative Linguistics - Quantitative Linguistics. An International Handbook - An International Handbook . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, pp. 23–64. ISBN 3-11-015578-8 .
  17. ↑ Emmerich Kelih, Peter Grzybek: New beginning and establishment of quantitative procedures in Soviet linguistics and literary studies (1956-1962) , in: Reinhard Köhler , Gabriel Altmann , Rajmund G. Piotrowski (eds.): Quantitative Linguistics - Quantitative Linguistics. An International Handbook - An International Handbook . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, pp. 65–82. ISBN 3-11-015578-8 .
  18. ↑ David Crystal: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Translation and editing of the German edition by Stefan Röhrich, Ariane Böckler and Manfred Jansen. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 1993. p. 68. ISBN 3-593-34824-1 ; Dieter Wickmann: On the Bonaventure problem: a mathematical-statistical check of the Klingemann hypothesis . In: Journal for Literary Studies and Linguistics 4, Issue 16, 1974, 13–29; Dieter Wickmann: Unknown authorship - statistically speaking . In: Joachim-Hermann Scharf & Wilhelm Kämmerer (eds.): Leopoldina Symposium on Natural Scientific Linguistics . German Academy of Natural Scientists LEOPOLDINA, Halle 1981, pp. 277–281. (= Nova Acta Leopoldina, NF 54, No. 245)
  19. ↑ Knut Radbruch: Mathematics in the humanities . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1989, pages 44-51. ISBN 3-525-33552-0 .
  20. ^ Willy Sanders: Linguistic Stylistics . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1977. pp. 119ff. ISBN 3-525-33417-6
  21. ↑ David Crystal : The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Translation and editing of the German edition by Stefan Röhrich, Ariane Böckler and Manfred Jansen. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 1993. p. 67. ISBN 3-593-34824-1 ; Bernd Spillner: Linguistics and literary studies. Style research, rhetoric, text linguistics. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1974. pp. 82-85. ISBN 3-17-001734-9
  22. ^ Heinz Dieter Maas: Some statistical studies on the work of Georg Trakl. In: Journal for Literary Studies and Linguistics , Volume 1, 1971, No. 1, pp. 43–50.
  23. ^ Bernd Spillner: Linguistics and literary studies. Style research, rhetoric, text linguistics. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1974. pp. 93-95. ISBN 3-17-001734-9 ; Viktor Levickij, Leonid Hikow: On the use of parts of speech in the author's style . In: Glottometrics 8, 2004, 12-22. (PDF full text. )

See also

Law of distribution of rhythmic units of various lengths
Quantitative stylistics
Quantitative text analysis
Verse length

Web links