The Moretti chapter had me thinking about a lot of texts for the project. Though there may be some other options for the final, I have to go with algorithmic criticism.

I have received some flak for my interest in Friedrich Nietzsche over the past few years, from instructors and peers. The last time was when I asked an instructor if I could compare the idea of the over-man with the human idealized in transcendentalist philosophy: the spiritual nonconformist. I got this idea while reading Self-Reliance, by Emerson. The parallels just kept popping up, but I was told that this comparison was either inappropriate, or just wrong.

This brings me to the project. As a supplement to a critical understanding of texts I think that by using divitext I can produce some solid, empirical, data to help back up my initial intuitions. But there are some problems. Self Reliance is a philosophical essay. While Nietzsche’s prime work is Thus Spoke Zarathustra, it is a narrative structured around the wanderings of Zarathustra; with pithy axioms learned throughout the plot. The difference in style might throw the analysis off.

I am also concerned because the machine will be unable to compare the substance of ideas. The difference in these two genres, besides seperate languages, might be beyond the grasp of algorithmic criticism. I may have to pick a different work by Nietzsche, maybe The Will to Power, or The Anti-Christ. And I could do the same with the transcendentalists, and their other works. Walden Pond might make a better comparison with Zarathustra. Though I don’t know Walden as well as I do Self-Reliance, it might be best to learn it.

I have some reservations about the potential for successful data, but it might be best to try all of the above and see if something sticks. I would really like to have some solid evidence to work with if I ever try to promote this comparison.