Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde - Volume 135, Issue 4, 2019

Abstract This article argues in favour of studying processes of random cultural change in the humanities. Studies of cultural change are of limited value if they are not embedded in or contrasted with a formalized and systematic theory of random change. To situate the discussion, this article first provides a brief overview of historical and more recent accounts of random cultural change. While quantitative, cultural evolutionar Read More

Abstract In this essay, we discuss distant reading as one of the various takes on reading that currently prevail in literary scholarship as well as the teaching of literature. We do so in the light of three concepts of reading, which for various reasons can be considered interrelated: close reading, surface reading and distant reading. We introduce a novel, twotier dissection of distant reading and demonstrate how this view relates d Read More

Abstract In this article, we assess the merits of Digital Humanities, and argue that this approach has advanced the field of Dutch linguistics considerably, but at the same time holds some dangers and misconceptions, like (i) the assumption that the new-fangled studies clash with older, more traditional research, (ii) a conceited but unwarranted disdain for current-day non-quantitative work, (iii) the idea that the early ado Read More

Abstract The article aims to explore methodological tenets and options underpinning the ongoing development of computational narratology. So far, the digital turn in narrative studies seems to have been dominated by a return to early formalist and proto-structuralist accounts of story grammar (Propp). However, it is shown that aspects of discourse and style have been latent in approaches to distant reading outside of Read More

Abstract ‘By the time you’ve sorted out a complicated idea into little steps that even a stupid machine can deal with, you’ve certainly learned something about it yourself.’ – Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (1987) The Digital Humanities myths of being ‘revolutionary’ and preoccupied with ‘making’ and ‘building’ are in fact shibboleths that hamper the under-standing of Digital Humanities as a field that Read More

Abstract Traditionally, the critique of literary representation hinges on ‘symptomatic’ forms of reading in which textual elements are regarded as expressive of deeper ideological issues. In the Digital Humanities, textual approaches are operationalised that target measurable elements on the textual surface. For a digitally oriented critique of representation, this creates a tension between the text’s surface and its ‘hidden’ dept Read More

Abstract Both historical linguistics and Digital Humanities have made great progress in recent decades. However, technology and research have still remained separate worlds, and as a result the digital infrastructures and corpora are not optimally equipped for diachronic linguistic research and take too little account of the theoretical insights. In this article I show on the basis of a concrete research question what requirements th Read More

Abstract As argued in this article, the digital analysis of literary texts could be enhanced by a closer connection between literary theories and digital techniques. Moretti tried to bridge the gap between the two, but did not fully succeed. Could a more systematic approach to what literary theory has to offer – explanatory hypotheses about the relations between textual structures, societal effects and intellectual shifts – and the req Read More

Abstract This paper argues that formal-theoretical – in particular generative – and quantitative-statistical approaches to language variation are highly complementary. The latter have sophisticated means of dealing with large and highly variable data sets, while the former introduce hypotheses and analyses that can guide the interpretation of the statistical results. We illustrate this claim on the basis of two case studi Read More

Abstract Dit artikel wenst op drie manieren bij te dragen aan het debat over Digital Humanities. Op het empirische niveau willen we het competentie profiel van de Letterenfaculteit van kuLeuven blootleggen zoals dat door haar studenten wordt gepercipieerd: op welke vaardigheden zetten opleidingen volgens studenten het meeste in, en welke plaats krijgt het adjectief digital in hun kijk op de humanities? Om deze vr Read More

Abstract This article examines the impact of born-digital literature on editorial theory and genetic criticism, notably on the notion of the textual ‘version’. Born-digital works challenge the logic of the version. At first sight, it seems as if writings whose genesis is recorded with keystroke logging software force us to rethink genetic research so thoroughly that the notion of the version becomes obsolete. However, the research hyp Read More