The Benefits of Distant Reading

Distant Reading is a process where digital documents are broken down and used to make visual images and graphs of patterns of the text that are found in these documents. According to Whitley with the use of digital technology scholars have been able to “search for patterns and trace broad outlines, in a single text or across a body of texts.” Unlike close reading, distant reading allows readers to know the topic of the document, the speaker of the document, and also the origins and culture of the people who wrote the document without taking the time to decipher and tediously read the entire text.

For instance, in the Wordle

application viewers can clearly see words that are commonly used throughout the Powell diary. Words such as Shekelleme, Indians, lamb, and sabbath reveal that the topic of the document is not only about the Moravian’s but it

is also describing one of the Moravian’s spiritual feasts and practices. In addition, if you click on one of the word icons in word cloud, it will then show you the frequency and specific page numbers where the word was used. This allows readers to go further in depth and understand the relationship between Brother Powell and figures such as Shekelleme.

On the other hand, applications such as RezoViz focus in on the relationships of the
commonly used words in the text. In the image to the right we can see that Brother Powell had several connections with Indians along with other figures in the text. In addition, other connections made such as love and feast suggest that the Indians had a very deep culture and would gather for spiritual feasts during the Sabbath.

Today many scholars still agree with Moretti view that close reading is not the best way to read texts, however many still believe that close reading allows people to understand the document more fully compared to distant reading. However, with applications such as link analysis people can get a brief outline of the summary of a specific text and from

there can compare the interrelationships that occurred throughout the document. According to the Whitley document distant reading has shown “indications that visualization tools (RezoViz, Wordle, etc) can produce revolutionary interpretations of literary text.” In my opinion, visualization tools not only help to get the summary of the text such as the Powell Diaries but also helps to make the story found in each text more clear and straightforward.