Ulysses by Numbers

__Ulysses__Taking a computational approach, __Ulysses by Numbers__ lets us see the novel’s basic building blocks in a significantly new light. "Ulysses provides the reader with a slew of words, literary styles, and techniques. While countless critics have explored the novel, its language, structure, and history, Eric Bulson argues that numbers and other data allow for new perspectives on the creation, distribution, and composition of Ulysses. In Ulysses by Numbers, Bulson asks what do we gain by analyzing Joyce's novel using new methods in the digital humanities such as text-mining, visualization, social network analysis, and geographic information systems (GIS)? In employing these approaches, Bulson shows how some of the most basic questions about the novel and its history can be viewed in a new light. He demonstrates that these quantitative techniques allow for new answers to questions regarding who read the book, when it was written, how Joyce developed the technique of the interior monologue, and its characters. Bulson uses these techniques not only to understand Ulysses but also to tackle some of the questions and debates emerging out of the Digital Humanities. Finding a middle ground between those who view these techniques as the future of literary studies and those who see it as its death, Bulson argues that this quantitative turn, is, in fact, an opportunity to recalibrate methods, modes of inquiry, and critical assumptions"-- Provided by publisher Ulysses has been read obsessively for a century. What ifinstead of focusing on the words to understand the structure,design, and history of Joyce's masterpiece, we pay attention to thenumbers? Taking a computational approach, Ulysses byNumbers lets us see the novel's basic building blocks in asignificantly new light-words, paragraphs, pages, and characters,as well as the original print run and the dates marking thebeginning and end of its composition. Numbers provide access intoJoyce's creative process, enhanced by graphs, diagrams, timelines,and maps, and they also give us a startling new perspective on theproportions that continue to structure, organize, and pace thereading experience. Numbers are there to help us navigate thehistory of Ulysses from its earliest material beginnings,and they offer a concrete basis upon which we can explore the bigquestions about its length, style, origins, readership, and design.An innovative computational reading on both a micro and macrolevel, Ulysses by Numbers is a timely intervention intodebates about the use and abuse of quantitative methods in literaryanalysis. Eric Bulson demonstrates how reading by numbers can bringus closer to the words of Ulysses, helping us rediscover anovel we thought we already knew Ulysses has been read obsessively for a century. What if instead of focusing on the words to understand the structure, design, and history of Joyce's masterpiece, we pay attention to the numbers? Taking a computational approach, Ulysses by Numbers lets us see the novel's basic building blocks in a significantly new light—words, paragraphs, pages, and characters, as well as the original print run and the dates marking the beginning and end of its composition. Numbers provide access into Joyce's creative process, enhanced by graphs, diagrams, timelines, and maps, and they also give us a startling new perspective on the proportions that continue to structure, organize, and pace the reading experience. Numbers are there to help us navigate the history of Ulysses from its earliest material beginnings, and they offer a concrete basis upon which we can explore the big questions about its length, style, origins, readership, and design. An innovative computational reading on both a micro and macro level, Ulysses by Numbers is a timely intervention into debates about the use and abuse of quantitative methods in literary analysis. Eric Bulson demonstrates how reading by numbers can bring us closer to the words of Ulysses , helping us rediscover a novel we thought we already knew.