A Study of "Collaboration" in Early Modern English Drama

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02452
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: OTA Kazuaki 九州大学, 言語文化研究院, 学術研究者 (10123803)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: authorship attribution / stylometry / collaboration / Shakespeare / Edward III / Double Falsehood / Arden of Faversham / New Oxford Shakespeare

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In recent years, the results of stylometric authorship identification studies using computers have led to more confident suggestions of Shakespeare's possible involvement in many dramatic works that have previously been considered as possibly written at least in part by him. This study critically examined recent Shakespeare attribution studies, arguing that computer-based stylometric authorship attribution has yet to replace conventional authorship identification based on impressionistic readings of dramatic texts. This is because most of the recent stylometric attribution investigations have been arbitrary and statistically unjustified in their extraction, collection, processing, and analysis of linguistic data, and the results cannot wholly be relied upon.

Free Research Field

English Literature

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

コンピューターを利用する計量文体学的な作者同定研究を理解するには、コンピューターのプログラムと統計学の知識が多少とも必要である。一般的な英文学研究者はそのような知識を持ち合わせていないから、近年の作者同定研究の成果を適切に評価することは困難である。The New Oxford Shakespeare (2016)は従来執筆者が確定されていない戯曲の作者判定を積極的に推進する編纂本であるが、編者たちの作者判定を支えているのが計量文体学的作者同定研究の成果である。その作者同定研究の可能性と限界とを具体的に提示する本研究は、計量文体学に不案内な文学研究者の作者同定研究の現状理解に裨益する。