Distant Reading in the Hebrew Novel: Chances and Risks

This proposed poster will unfold the goals, methods, and some of the initial results of a new and experimental project focusing on the Hebrew novel, in its various formal as well as thematical characteristics from its emergence in 1853 till very day. My project, titled “Roman Mafteach: Distant Reading in the Hebrew Novel”, aims at creating a comprehensive, up-to-date database of the Hebrew novel, in its narratological, thematical, structural as well as bibliographical aspects. Influenced by the work of Franco Moretti, who suggested “distant reading” as a second-hand, collaborative way of approaching the study of literature (“Conjectures on World Literature”, 2000),  I wish to bridge between the traditional methods of literary interpretation and the digital age, providing a new, digital tool for distant reading, and precisely for distant reading in the Hebrew novel. 
Thus, my project is based on the synchronous work of different readers, all contributing to a database that, eventually, will be available for their use, too. On the first stage of the project (launched in June 2020), we invite readers fill out a questionnaire, collecting data on any Hebrew novel they have recently read. The questionnaire is designed to collect data in the following main categories: Bibliography (e.g., year of publication, publishing house, editor); Structure (e.g., sub-genre, graphic components, sub-structure within the novel); Narratology (e.g., narrator, key-events, exposition and closure);Thematical aspects (time and place of main plot, historical aspects and more) ; and, lastly, Reception and Importance. The questionnaire also includes some highly subjective questions regarding the language, intertextuality, assessment, and the overall reading experience.  
Noting the challenges and risks of this approach, I wish to examine the possible contribution of this database to the study of the Hebrew novel. As argued by Itay Marienberg-Milikowsky, “from a purely quantitative standpoint, Hebrew (prose) literature consists of a relatively small corpus,” thus enabling the to-and-fro movement between distant and close reading, between personal literary interpretation and collective, quantitative analysis (“Beyond digitization? Digital humanities and the case of Hebrew literature”, 2019). What is the value of such an approach for the study of Hebrew literature? To what extant do the questions determine the possibilities for future research? What are the patterns, major trends, directions, and possibilities, of both the Hebrew novel and Roman Mafteach alike?
 
Dr. Yael Dekel
The Literary Lab – Ben Gurion University

Distant Reading in the Hebrew Novel: Chances and Risks

The international conference #DHJewish - Jewish Studies in the Digital Age will bring together more than 60 scholars and heritage practitioners to discuss how the digital turn affects the field of Jewish Studies. The conference is organised by the [Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH).](https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/) 

[For more information, and a PDF download of the program, please see also here.](https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/events/dhjewish-jewish-studies-digital-age) 



In order to meet other participants and for informal chats in the breaks, join us in our [wonder.me room](https://www.wonder.me/r?id=73a12756-8d93-4871-9374-143253bfbf59).