文章基本信息

标题：Listening at a Distance: Reading the Sound World of Gothic Literature with Topic Modeling and Text Analysis
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作者：Olivia Wikle
期刊名称：Digital Studies
电子版ISSN：1918-3666
出版年度：2020
卷号：10
期号：1
页码：1-33
DOI：10.16995/dscn.333
出版社：Open Library of Humanities
摘要：Traditionally text-focused digital humanities tools can assist in sound studies research by revealing patterns in how sound is described in historical text. When combined with close reading, these patterns facilitate insight into how sound was interpreted and communicated in time periods for which no sound recording technology existed. This article centers on the literary works of gothic author Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823), whose texts have been recognized for their inclusion of rich descriptions of sound. I examine the results of text analysis and topic modeling performed on Radcliffe’s corpus in the context of how contemporaneous aestheticians understood and wrote about sound. The results reveal that Radcliffe’s sonic language encompasses a comprehensive and calculated narrative use of sound, which reflects an understanding of theories on obscurity, sublime terror, and associationism put forward by aestheticians during her time. On a larger level, this article illustrates the mutual value that stems from integrating digital humanities and sound studies research: analyzing sonic language expands the types of questions to which visually oriented digital humanities tools can be applied, and digital tools aid in excavating otherwise silent sound worlds of the past.