Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures.
Entropy (Basel). 2023 Mar 10; 25(3)E

Abstract

Research in computational textual aesthetics has shown that there are textual correlates of preference in prose texts. The present study investigates whether textual correlates of preference vary across different time periods (contemporary texts versus texts from the 19th and early 20th centuries). Preference is operationalized in different ways for the two periods, in terms of canonization for the earlier texts, and through sales figures for the contemporary texts. As potential textual correlates of preference, we measure degrees of (un)predictability in the distributions of two types of low-level observables, parts of speech and sentence length. Specifically, we calculate two entropy measures, Shannon Entropy as a global measure of unpredictability, and Approximate Entropy as a local measure of surprise (unpredictability in a specific context). Preferred texts from both periods (contemporary bestsellers and canonical earlier texts) are characterized by higher degrees of unpredictability. However, unlike canonicity in the earlier texts, sales figures in contemporary texts are reflected in global (text-level) distributions only (as measured with Shannon Entropy), while surprise in local distributions (as measured with Approximate Entropy) does not have an additional discriminating effect. Our findings thus suggest that there are both time-invariant correlates of preference, and period-specific correlates.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Mohseni M

Department of English and American Studies, University of Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany. Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, University of Jena, 07740 Jena, Germany.

Redies C

Experimental Aesthetics Group, Institute of Anatomy I, Jena University Hospital, University of Jena, 07740 Jena, Germany.

Gast V

Department of English and American Studies, University of Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany.

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

36981375

Citation

Mohseni, Mahdi, et al. "Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures." Entropy (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 25, no. 3, 2023.

Mohseni M, Redies C, Gast V. Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures. Entropy (Basel). 2023;25(3).

Mohseni, M., Redies, C., & Gast, V. (2023). Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures. Entropy (Basel, Switzerland), 25(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/e25030486

Mohseni M, Redies C, Gast V. Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures. Entropy (Basel). 2023 Mar 10;25(3) PubMed PMID: 36981375.

* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case

TY - JOUR T1 - Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures. AU - Mohseni,Mahdi, AU - Redies,Christoph, AU - Gast,Volker, Y1 - 2023/03/10/ PY - 2023/02/06/received PY - 2023/03/04/revised PY - 2023/03/07/accepted PY - 2023/3/30/medline PY - 2023/3/29/entrez PY - 2023/3/30/pubmed KW - Approximate Entropy KW - POS tags KW - Shannon Entropy KW - bestseller books KW - canonical texts KW - contemporary texts KW - fictional texts KW - non-canonical texts KW - non-fictional texts KW - text classification JF - Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) JO - Entropy (Basel) VL - 25 IS - 3 N2 - Research in computational textual aesthetics has shown that there are textual correlates of preference in prose texts. The present study investigates whether textual correlates of preference vary across different time periods (contemporary texts versus texts from the 19th and early 20th centuries). Preference is operationalized in different ways for the two periods, in terms of canonization for the earlier texts, and through sales figures for the contemporary texts. As potential textual correlates of preference, we measure degrees of (un)predictability in the distributions of two types of low-level observables, parts of speech and sentence length. Specifically, we calculate two entropy measures, Shannon Entropy as a global measure of unpredictability, and Approximate Entropy as a local measure of surprise (unpredictability in a specific context). Preferred texts from both periods (contemporary bestsellers and canonical earlier texts) are characterized by higher degrees of unpredictability. However, unlike canonicity in the earlier texts, sales figures in contemporary texts are reflected in global (text-level) distributions only (as measured with Shannon Entropy), while surprise in local distributions (as measured with Approximate Entropy) does not have an additional discriminating effect. Our findings thus suggest that there are both time-invariant correlates of preference, and period-specific correlates. SN - 1099-4300 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/36981375/Comparative_Analysis_of_Preference_in_Contemporary_and_Earlier_Texts_Using_Entropy_Measures_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -

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Comparative Analysis of Preference in Contemporary and Earlier Texts Using Entropy Measures.Entropy (Basel). 2023 Mar 10; 25(3)E