Distant reading is a literary analysis method introduced by Franco Moretti in his 2000 essay “Conjectures on World Literature.” It contrasts with traditional “close reading,” where scholars carefully analyze individual texts in detail.
Key characteristics of distant reading include:
At its core, distant reading treats literature as data that can be analyzed quantitatively and systematically, looking for patterns across hundreds or thousands of texts. Instead of focusing on the nuanced interpretation of single works, it examines literature at scale to understand broader trends, patterns, and evolution in literary history.
The approach employs:
- Computational text analysis and natural language processing
- Statistical methods and data visualization
- Database techniques to organize and analyze large text collections
- Network analysis to map relationships between texts, authors, or literary elements
Common applications include studying:
- The rise and fall of different literary genres over time
- Changes in writing style across historical periods
- Patterns in plot structures across many works
- The spread and evolution of literary devices or themes
- Networks of influence between authors and texts
For example, Moretti used distant reading to analyze how the novel as a form spread globally, tracking patterns in thousands of works rather than focusing on a canonical few. Other scholars have used it to study everything from the evolution of sentence length in literature to the changing emotional content of novels over centuries.
This method has sparked considerable debate in literary studies. Proponents argue it reveals patterns invisible to traditional methods and helps us understand literature as a complex system. Critics worry it loses the nuance and depth of close reading and may oversimplify literary works.
The success of distant reading helped inspire similar “distant” approaches in other humanities fields, like the distant viewing we discussed earlier. Both are part of a broader shift toward using computational methods to analyze cultural artifacts at scale while still maintaining humanistic inquiry’s critical and interpretive nature.