Een statistische methode voor stijlonderzoek. Vorm-inhoud correspondenties in Vondels Jeptha?

Abstract

This contribution presents a new method of stylistic analysis of 16th and 17th century plays based on statistical evidence. Our first aim is to describe the differences in length of coherent sequences of words belonging to the same main or subordinate clause or to a free adjunct ('perceptive continuities') and the percentages of enjambments in statistically categorised text units spoken by one character. Our second aim is to examine the results of this investigation in relation to the states of mind of the characters when he or she utters the text unit.

For our investigation we have chosen Vondel's Jeptha. This tragedy shows that there is a correlation between short perceptive continuities and emotional states of mind and between long perceptive continuities with rational states of mind. A high percentage of enjambments tends to correspond to a greater involvement of the character with the communication process and the subject he or she is talking about.