
Character Constellations
Representations of Social Groups in Present-Day Dutch Literary Fiction
Roel Smeets
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Monograph - free ebook - ePUB
VIEW Monograph - free ebook - PDF VIEW Monograph - paperbackLarge-scale data analysis of cultural representation
in Dutch literary fiction
Fiction has a major social
impact, not least because it co-shapes the image that society has of various
social groups. Drawing on a collection of 170
contemporary Dutch-language novels, Character Constellations presents
a range of data-driven, statistical models to study depictions of characters in
terms of gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, sexuality, and other identity
categories. Incorporating the
tools of network analysis, each chapter highlights an aspect of fictional
social networks that affects the representation of social groups: their
centrality, their communities, and their conflicts. While reading
individual novels in light of emerging statistical patterns, combining the formal methods
of social network
analysis with the interpretive tools of narratology, this study shows
how central societal themes such as (in)equality and emancipation, integration
and segregation, and social mobility and class struggle are foregrounded,
replicated, or distorted in the Dutch novel.
Showcasing what character-based critiques of literary representation gain by integrating data-driven methods into the practice of critical close reading, Character Constellations contributes to societal debates on cultural representation and identity and the role fiction and art have in those debates.
Ebook available in Open Access.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
“Fiction
co-shapes our understanding of social groups in myriad ways and we need to move
beyond the traditional methods of close reading (but not abandon them!) if we
want to make generalisable, empirical claims about cultural representation.”, Roel Smeets
Runner-up OSL Awards 2021 - PhD Thesis
1.1.1 Example: Character Constellations in Joost Zwagerman’s De buitenvrouw (1994) and Robert Vuijsje’s Alleen maar nette mensen (2008)
Chapter 2: Data
Chapter 3: Centrality
Chapter 4: Community
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Format: Monograph - free ebook - ePUB
252 pages
ISBN: 9789461664136
Publication: December 01, 2021
Languages: English
Download: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/98048