Yale University Library News

Statistical Analysis at the Birth of Close Reading

April 2, 2015

Friday, April 10, 2:30 pm, Bass Library LO1A

What is the actual historical relation between close reading and non-close or "distant" methods of textual analysis? This talk by Yohei Igarashi, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, demonstrates that I.A. Richards's inaugural theories of close reading were shaped by his era's statistical analyses, particularly the genre of the frequency-based word list. Recovering an important chapter from the history of literary studies that has eluded digital humanities discourse, this talk hopes to enrich our understanding of the digital humanities as well as close reading by looking to the former's pre-digital history. All are welcome.

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