Moretti (P51) said there is a change in how people used pronouns in novels which showed an increased sense of community. He references Elizabeth Gaskell’s, Cranford. He said it starts off with the word “Our” and ends with “Us.” However if you use Wordle and accept common words (Cranford Wordleized) plural pronouns are small and singular pronouns are large.
I think Moretti was just seeing what he wanted to see and not what was really there.
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That’s a good point…but that’s pretty much a danger for any form of inquiry, particularly historical inquiries, don’t you agree? We are always at danger of seeing what we want to see, since we are all biased. The main problem here is that he is using one form of investigation to prove his point. And as you’ve just proven, one is not enough.
Comment by lprice3 — November 12, 2009 @ 5:47 pm |