big modernism
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given by Belaid Moa (Compute Canada) and Jana Millar Usiskin (Modernist Versions Project, Maker Lab in the Humanities) at the University of Victoria, April 2014. Addressed new methods for analyzing modernist literature as Big Data.TRANSCRIPT
Topic Modeling for Literary AnalysisBig Modernism
Belaid Moa, PhDComputing Specialist, Compute CanadaJana Millar UsiskinPhD Student, Department of English
THE Challenge
THE PROCESS
If text analysis is to participate in literary critical endeavor in some manner beyond fact-checking, it must endeavor to assist the critic in the unfolding of interpretive possibilities. [. . .] The evidence we seek is not definitive, but suggestive of grander arguments and schemes.
Stephen Ramsay
Interpretive Possibilities
DEFINING
The Data SetAGGREGATING
metadata (xml) text (txt)
PreprocessINGcleaning text
PreprocessINGprepping for maximum interpretation
Learn from seen (large) dataPatterns, Properties, etc.
Perform well on unseen (large) dataPredictDecideClassify
“Torture data” just right
What is Machine Learning?
Analyzing
As simple as possible but not simpler.
Machine Learning
Machine Learning
Process
Categorization
Machine Learning
Labeled data
Unlabeled data
Rewarded data
Probabilistic/Bayesian Learning
Unsupervised Learning
Topic Modeling
BAYESIAN Learning
Find hidden (thematic) patterns/topics in documents
Produce labels according to the patterns
Understand, organize, search and summarize the collection of documents
Simple Idea!
process
Topic 1
Topic 3
Topic 2
Mrs Dalloway
Ulysses
house
Time
man ChildDay
Documents as a mixture of topics
LDA
Document 1
Document 2
Topics as a mixture of words
LDA
Topic 1arabs 0.023army 0.016railway 0.0146day 0.0144….
Topic 2God 0.020Father 0.0160soul 0.0135Sin 0.0080Priest0.00798….
Topic 3time 0.0129father 0.0107Sister 0.00677room 0.00676House 0.0066….
Topics as distributions on words
LDA
Topic 1
Topic 2
Topic 3
Generative Process
LDA
For each topic Tp,a)Choose a distribution pTp over wordsFor each novel Li:Choose a distribution pLi over K topicsfor each word in Li:
a) Draw one of the K topics, Tj, according to pLi
b) Draw one of the V words according to pTj
LDA NovelsLDA
children room room room people house house room afternoon doctor afternoon children room house children house doctor girl afternoon house night doctor room children afternoon children room house afternoon children
Novel 1
room afternoon doctor children house afternoon night children children children children room house afternoon people doctor house house doctor room doctor afternoon doctor room room house doctor afternoon children room
Novel 2
Graphical ModelLDA
ND
K
For Big Modernism
LDA
LDA(mallet train-topics
…)
Corpus
Filter
Topic & word Distributions
Exploration
Processingstreamlined script
Though the machine does a very good job in identifying the topics latent in a corpus, the machine does a comparatively poor job when it comes to auto-identifying which of the harvest topics are the most interpretable by human beings.
- Matt Jockers, Macroanalysis
Interpretation
post-processing
3SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF TEMPORALITYtime felt day looked knew work face hand night
18 TIME EMBODIEDeyes face life time white dark round hand head
26 INHABITING SPACESmen people began room house talk suddenly end years
TOPIC INDEX
Modernist Novels
Time Embodied
Inhabiting Everyday Spaces
POST-PROCESSINGLabeling Most Modernist Topics
Sensory Experienc
e of Temporali
ty
Sensory Experience of Temporality
POST-PROCESSING
Sensory Experience of Temporality
POST-PROCESSING
Inhabiting Spaces
POST-PROCESSING
Inhabiting Spaces
POST-PROCESSING
Time Embodied
POST-PROCESSING
Time Embodied
POST-PROCESSING
POST-PROCESSINGDistribution Table
Heart of Darkness >>> Lord Jim 0.052
Heart of Darkness >>> Secret Agent 0.809
Lord Jim >>> Secret Agent 0.729
Mrs. Dalloway >>> The Waves 0.586
The Great Gatsby >>> Tender is the Night 0.132
Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas >>> Three Lives 6.993
POST-PROCESSINGAuthor Distances
Top 10 Generic Modernist Novels
POST-PROCESSING
The AmbassadorsHoward’s EndTwilight SleepThe CaptiveThe Good SoldierThe AwakeningLord JimThe WavesHeart of Darkness
Top 10 Generic Modernist Novels
POST-PROCESSING
Mrs. DallowayThe AmbassadorsHoward’s EndTwilight SleepThe CaptiveThe Good SoldierThe AwakeningLord JimThe WavesHeart of Darkness
Top 10 UniqueModernist Novels
POST-PROCESSING
Seven PillarsThe TrialBabbittThe Autobiography of Alice B. ToklasThree LivesTime RegainedNightwood1984Passage to India
Top 10 UniqueModernist Novels
POST-PROCESSING
UlyssesSeven PillarsThe TrialBabbittThe Autobiography of Alice B. ToklasThree LivesTime RegainedNightwood1984Passage to India
Clustering
MachineLearning
Affinity Propagation
Clustering
Affinity Propagation
Clustering
Affinity Propagation
ClusteringExemplar
Cluster 1, exemplar Tender is the Night:The Awakening (Chopin), Heart of Darkness (Conrad), Lord Jim (Conrad), The Secret Agent (Conrad), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), Tender is the Night (Fitzgerald), The Trial (Kafka), Babbitt (S. Lewis), Tarr (W. Lewis), 1984 (Orwell), Burmese Days (Orwell), The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (Stein), Twilight Sleep (Wharton)
Cluster 2, exemplar Ulysses:Nightwood (Barnes), A Passage to India (Forster), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Hardy), The Dubliners (Joyce), Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce), Ulysses (Joyce)
Cluster 3, exemplar Seven Pillars of Wisdom:Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Lawrence)
Cluster 4, exemplar Time Regained:The Ambassadors (James), The Captive (Proust), Time Regained (Proust)
Cluster 5, exemplar Mrs. Dalloway:The Good Soldier (Ford), Howard’s End (Forster), Sons and Lovers (Lawrence), Women in Love (Lawrence), Of Human Bondage (Maugham), Three Lives (Stein), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde), Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf), The Waves (Woolf)
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM SUB-CLUSTERS
Cluster 1, exemplar Tender is the Night:The Awakening (Chopin), Heart of Darkness (Conrad), Lord Jim (Conrad), The Secret Agent (Conrad), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), Tender is the Night (Fitzgerald), The Trial (Kafka), Babbitt (S. Lewis), Tarr (W. Lewis), 1984 (Orwell), Burmese Days (Orwell), The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (Stein), Twilight Sleep (Wharton)
Cluster 2, exemplar Ulysses:Nightwood (Barnes), A Passage to India (Forster), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Hardy), The Dubliners (Joyce), Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce), Ulysses (Joyce)
Cluster 3, exemplar Seven Pillars of Wisdom:Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Lawrence)
Cluster 4, exemplar Time Regained:The Ambassadors (James), The Captive (Proust), Time Regained (Proust)
Cluster 5, exemplar Mrs. Dalloway:The Good Soldier (Ford), Howard’s End (Forster), Sons and Lovers (Lawrence), Women in Love (Lawrence), Of Human Bondage (Maugham), Three Lives (Stein), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde), Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf), The Waves (Woolf)
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM SUB-CLUSTERS
Affinity Propagation on Modernism
POST-PROCESSING
Affinity Propagation on Modernism
POST-PROCESSING
10GIFTS and SOCIETYgive felt time father mind people speak present poor
26 EMBODIED TIMEtime face hand eyes day looked place house turned
17FAMILY RELATIONSsister family mother friend manner feelings time morning father
27BODIES IN SPACEnight half round room eye eyes sat heard head
TOPIC INDEX
19th-Century Novels
Sensory Experience of Temporality
POST-PROCESSING
Family Relation
s
Embodied Time
Gifts and Social
Relations
Cluster 1, exemplar Emma (Austen):Emma (Austen), Pride and Prejudice (Austen), Persuasion (Austen)
Cluster 2, exemplar Villette (Brontë):Jane Eyre (Brontë), Villette (Brontë)
Cluster 3, exemplar A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens):A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
Cluster 4, exemplar Great Expectations (Dickens):Great Expectations (Dickens), Oliver Twist (Dickens), North and South (Gaskell), The Portrait of a Lady (James), The Turn of the Screw (James)
Cluster 5, exemplar Middlemarch (Eliot):Middlemarch (Eliot), Silas Marner (Eliot), The Mill on the Floss (Eliot), The Return of the Native (Eliot)
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM SUB-CLUSTERS
47TIME EMBODIEDface eyes time hand head night house turned looked
18 WOMEN, TIME, AND SPACEtime day mind room woman life years place heard
8SENSORY INTERPRETATIONfelt sense fact question face life present eyes light
TOPICS
Modernism and 19th-Century Novels
Cluster 1, exemplar Tender is the Night: Nightwood, The Awakening, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Great Gatsby, Tender is
the Night, Babbitt, Tarr, 1984, The Captive, Time Regained, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Twilight Sleep
Cluster 2, exemplar A Passage to India: The Good Soldier, A Passage to India, The Trial, Burmese Days
Cluster 3, exemplar Ulysses: The Secret Agent, Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist, Ulysses, North and South
Cluster 4, exemplar Seven Pillars of Wisdom: Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Cluster 5, exemplar Mrs. Dalloway: Howard’s End, Women in Love, Sons and Lovers, Of Human Bondage, Three Lives,
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mrs. Dalloway, The WavesCluster 6, exemplar Emma:
Emma, Persuasion, Pride and PrejudiceCluster 7, exemplar Great Expectations:
A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver TwistCluster 8, exemplar Silas Marner:
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Middlemarch, Silas Marner, The Mill on the Floss, Return of the Native
Cluster 9, exemplar The Turn of the Screw: The Ambassadors, The Turn of the Screw, Jane Eyre, Villette, The Portrait of a Lady,
The Turn of the Screw
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM AND 19th-CENTURY SUB-CLUSTERS
Cluster 1, exemplar Tender is the Night: Nightwood, The Awakening, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Great Gatsby, Tender is
the Night, Babbitt, Tarr, 1984, The Captive, Time Regained, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Twilight Sleep
Cluster 2, exemplar A Passage to India: The Good Soldier, A Passage to India, The Trial, Burmese Days
Cluster 3, exemplar Ulysses: The Secret Agent, Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist, Ulysses, North and South
Cluster 4, exemplar Seven Pillars of Wisdom: Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Cluster 5, exemplar Mrs. Dalloway: Howard’s End, Women in Love, Sons and Lovers, Of Human Bondage, Three Lives,
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mrs. Dalloway, The WavesCluster 6, exemplar Emma:
Emma, Persuasion, Pride and PrejudiceCluster 7, exemplar Great Expectations:
A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver TwistCluster 8, exemplar Silas Marner:
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Middlemarch, Silas Marner, The Mill on the Floss, Return of the Native
Cluster 9, exemplar The Turn of the Screw: The Ambassadors, The Turn of the Screw, Jane Eyre, Villette, The Portrait of a Lady,
The Turn of the Screw
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM AND 19th-CENTURY SUB-CLUSTERS
Cluster 1, exemplar Tender is the Night:The Awakening, The Great Gatsby, The Good Soldier, Howard’s End, A Passage to India, The Ambassadors, The Trial, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Women in Love, Babbitt, Tarr, Of Human Bondage, 1984, Burmese Days, The Captive, Time Regained, The Autobiography of Alice B., Three Lives, Emma, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw
Cluster 2, exemplar Ulysses:Nightwood, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist, Sons and Lovers, Twilight Sleep, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, Jane Eyre, Villette, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Silas Marner, North and South, Return of the Native
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM AND 19th-CENTURY SUB-CLUSTERS
Cluster 1, exemplar Tender is the Night:The Awakening, The Great Gatsby, The Good Soldier, Howard’s End, A Passage to India, The Ambassadors, The Trial, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Women in Love, Babbitt, Tarr, Of Human Bondage, 1984, Burmese Days, The Captive, Time Regained, The Autobiography of Alice B., Three Lives, Emma, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw
Cluster 2, exemplar Ulysses:Nightwood, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist, Sons and Lovers, Twilight Sleep, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, Jane Eyre, Villette, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Silas Marner, North and South, Return of the Native
POST-PROCESSINGMODERNISM AND 19th-CENTURY SUB-CLUSTERS
Mystery NovelsINFERENCE
Example: Given X.txt, Y.txt, and Z.txt novels, find the closest novel
Profiling the texts
INFERENCE
Mystery
TextsXYZ
Mystery Texts, Topic Inference
INFERENCESimilarity to other novels
Modernist Versions ProjectCompute Canada
Maker Lab in the Humanities
Contact info:Belaid Moa
[email protected] Millar [email protected]
@jana_mu
Thank you