Lebanese Anglophone post-war novel and critical coding : the novel analysis program-

Abstract

Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a field of digital inquiry that provides literary studies with exploratory networks. In spite of the availability of general network visualization tools, the complexity of novelistic text necessitates a more targeted and discipline specific tool. For the purpose of literary analysis, the Novel Analysis Program (NAP) was created. Put to test with a specific corpus of two Lebanese Anglophone post-war novels, the interaction between SNA and literary theory, as well as deep reading and interpretation were rendered possible. The Novel Analysis Program (NAP) collects the data by asking users for input, and stores them in a corresponding Neo4j database. The data is born interconnected, yet still stands alone. The automation of data collection is at the level of the connections and relationships between nodes. Once the data are stored and finalized, the user can query the database. What differentiates NAP from data collection and storage in tradition structured form in spread sheets are two main issues: automatically connected nodes and common nodes. Using NAP and readily available tools has opened analytical horizons and supported existing hypothesis. This thesis will argue that literature, critical coding, and social network analysis can work together and enhance each other. Putting together these disciplines allows pushing the research in the three of them, presenting one with visuals that raise different questions, tackle abstract concepts, and answer unreciprocated problems. The inherent structures of the novels are addressed and explored, from an event directed perspective (Koolaids) and a feminist point of view (Somewhere, Home).