Quantitative Analysis of Poetic Texts

The book presents methods for the objective analysis of poetic language. Common objects of literary studies such as rhythm, semantic explications, interpretation and personal impressions are avoided. Only those properties of poetic texts are taken into account that could be quantified. The major chapters contain the analysis of phonic phenomena (frequency, euphony, assonance, alliteration, aggregation, rhyme), word properties (aspects of frequency, length, richness, word classes, sequences of word properties, characterisations). The synergetic control cycle is the result of the study of mutual links between properties. For all methods both statistical tests (evaluation, comparison), theoretical derivations (models), and examples are presented.

The book is dedicated to the work of the famous Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu whose complete work was analysed, which made detailed illustrations of the method possible. The methods can be used mutatis mutandis for any language and text. It is the first comprehensive quantitative analysis of a poetic work.

About the author

Ioan-Iovitz Popescu, Univ. of Bucharest, Mihaiela Lupea & Doina Tatar, Babe¿-Bolyai University; Gabriel Altmann, Ruhr-Univ. Bochum.

Product details

• Authors: Gabriel Altmann, Mihaiel Lupea, Mihaiela Lupea, Ioan-Iovit Popescu, Ioan-Iovitz Popescu, Doina Tatar
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2015
• EAN: 9783110336054
• ISBN: 978-3-11-033605-4
• No. of pages: 280
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 235 mm x 17 mm
• Weight: 532 g
• Illustrations: 83 b/w ill., 68 b/w tbl.
• Series: Quantitative Linguistics; Quantitative Linguistics [QL]; Quantitative Linguistics; Quantitative Linguistics [QL]; ISSN
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies