Comments on: Networks & literary influence http://amandafrench.net/2008/08/12/networks-literary-influence/ Professional site of Amanda L. French, Ph.D. -- digital humanities teaching, training, research, writing, unconference organizing, and web development Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:29:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: admin http://amandafrench.net/2008/08/12/networks-literary-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-29 admin Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:52:44 +0000 http://amandafrench.net/?p=36#comment-29 See also http://householdopera.typepad.com/household_opera/2008/08/article-idea-scholarly-social-network-mapping.html See also http://householdopera.typepad.com/household_opera/2008/08/article-idea-scholarly-social-network-mapping.html

]]> By: Valdis Krebs http://amandafrench.net/2008/08/12/networks-literary-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Valdis Krebs Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:58:07 +0000 http://amandafrench.net/?p=36#comment-28 You can look at two different types of literary network maps. One would be of co-authorship and the other would be of reference/citation. Both maps will have some data noise in them, because of our social normal ways/practices of citing key scholars from our own university/lab and including key sponsors on a list of co-authors even though they contributed no direct knowledge to the current paper. Once you have the data of... 1) who co-authored with whom 2) who cited whom you have network data [I would focus on directed ties] that can be mapped and analyzed using social network metrics of prestige that were the basis of Google PageRank. You want to look at both the direct and indirect INcoming links to a node -- who nominated this node as "important" or "useful". Here are some examples... * http://www.orgnet.com/KOL.html * http://www.orgnet.com/SN.html You can look at two different types of literary network maps. One would be of co-authorship and the other would be of reference/citation. Both maps will have some data noise in them, because of our social normal ways/practices of citing key scholars from our own university/lab and including key sponsors on a list of co-authors even though they contributed no direct knowledge to the current paper.

Once you have the data of…
1) who co-authored with whom
2) who cited whom
you have network data [I would focus on directed ties] that can be mapped and analyzed using social network metrics of prestige that were the basis of Google PageRank. You want to look at both the direct and indirect INcoming links to a node — who nominated this node as “important” or “useful”.

Here are some examples…
* http://www.orgnet.com/KOL.html
* http://www.orgnet.com/SN.html

]]> By: Lisa S. http://amandafrench.net/2008/08/12/networks-literary-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-27 Lisa S. Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:39:41 +0000 http://amandafrench.net/?p=36#comment-27 Hey Amanda, Nice post! I share your fantasies of setting up a database to track literary influence, but like how you articulated the ambition. Google Books does let you do some influence tracking in a limited way through its "Popular Passages" feature. There are some good examples of literary databases, e.g. the Irish-American Literature Database and Text Archive, http://www.wiisonline.org/resources.php?type=iaw (currently down) Hey Amanda,

Nice post! I share your fantasies of setting up a database to track literary influence, but like how you articulated the ambition. Google Books does let you do some influence tracking in a limited way through its “Popular Passages” feature. There are some good examples of literary databases, e.g. the Irish-American Literature Database and Text Archive, http://www.wiisonline.org/resources.php?type=iaw (currently down)

]]> By: Amanda French http://amandafrench.net/2008/08/12/networks-literary-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-26 Amanda French Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:08:47 +0000 http://amandafrench.net/?p=36#comment-26 Wow, that Stewart article sounds great -- will have to look at it. And thanks for reminding me over on your blog about the Reading Experience Database. I too want to contribute. I have about six blog posts I've been meaning to write, including about the CLIR discussions we had. I'm not in the rhythm yet. Wow, that Stewart article sounds great — will have to look at it. And thanks for reminding me over on your blog about the Reading Experience Database. I too want to contribute.

I have about six blog posts I’ve been meaning to write, including about the CLIR discussions we had. I’m not in the rhythm yet.

]]> By: Amanda http://amandafrench.net/2008/08/12/networks-literary-influence/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Amanda Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:41:19 +0000 http://amandafrench.net/?p=36#comment-20 I think it's "corpora." This is a fascinating idea, and it's a little bit like what I was trying to do with a prototype Shakespeare ontology I built for a class project, which tracked adaptations and revisions and editions -- only way more ambitious. And I think some critics have gotten at the same idea about individual words resonating from one author to another -- Susan Stewart has a really interesting article called "Lyric Possession" that mentions, among other things, the history of "guerdon" from the Middle Ages to William Carlos Williams. Coincidentally, I've been thinking a lot about networks too, in a somewhat different register. Which reminds me, I should actually write the blog post I've been intending to write about it. :) And any project that sets up a counter-discourse to Bloom is good by me. He makes me cranky, not least because the entire Anxiety of Influence paradigm seems based on the Romantics and after. As an early modernist, I object! I think it’s “corpora.” This is a fascinating idea, and it’s a little bit like what I was trying to do with a prototype Shakespeare ontology I built for a class project, which tracked adaptations and revisions and editions — only way more ambitious. And I think some critics have gotten at the same idea about individual words resonating from one author to another — Susan Stewart has a really interesting article called “Lyric Possession” that mentions, among other things, the history of “guerdon” from the Middle Ages to William Carlos Williams.

Coincidentally, I’ve been thinking a lot about networks too, in a somewhat different register. Which reminds me, I should actually write the blog post I’ve been intending to write about it. :)

And any project that sets up a counter-discourse to Bloom is good by me. He makes me cranky, not least because the entire Anxiety of Influence paradigm seems based on the Romantics and after. As an early modernist, I object!

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