The happiness of readers. Fractal scaling of sentiment dynamics and the assessment of literary quality.

• Event: Seminar
• Lecturer: Yuri Bizzoni from Aarhus University
• Date: 02 March 2022
• Duration: 2 hours
• Venue: Gothenburg and Online

Abstract

I will present the main research question and hypothesis of the new project FabulaNet. FabulaNet revolves around the complex question of what determines literary quality and reader appreciation and aims at testing some aesthetic hypotheses with computational means: mainly, the possibility that the fractal properties of narrative texts’ sentimental arcs might be contributing to our appreciation of literary stories. After discussing the theoretic and technical premises of the project I will relate early findings from our pilot studies, and I will present the directions we are interested in exploring this year. I will finally discuss the risks and limitations of the study and I will gladly take criticisms and ideas.