The Distant Reading of Religious Texts

A “Big Data” Approach to Mind-Body Concepts in Early China

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8207729
AutoresEdward Slingerland (0000-0001-6717-7765, University of British Columbia, autor correspondente), Ryan Nichols (0000-0001-9445-9821, California State University, Fullerton), Kristoffer Neilbo (Aarhus University), Carson Logan (University of British Columbia)
Ano2017
Volume85
Fascículo4
Páginas985-1016
Data de publicação2017-12-30
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfw090
OpenAlexW2604459822
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas17
Referências citadas24

This article focuses on the debate about mind-body concepts in early China to demonstrate the usefulness of large-scale, automated textual analysis techniques for scholars of religion. As previous scholarship has argued, traditional, “close” textual reading, as well as more recent, human coder-based analyses, of early Chinese texts have called into question the “strong” holist position, or the claim that the early Chinese made no qualitative distinction between mind and body. In a series of follow-up studies, we show how three different machine-based techniques—word collocation, hierarchical clustering, and topic modeling analysis—provide convergent evidence that the authors of early Chinese texts viewed the mind-body relationship as unique or problematic. We conclude with reflections on the advantages of adding “distant reading” techniques to the methodological arsenal of scholars of religion, as a supplement and aid to traditional, close reading.

Archaeology · Art · Big data · China · Data mining · Epistemology · Linguistics · Literature · Mind–body problem · Reading (process) · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices