Small Worlds: Measuring the mobility of literary characters

This blog post describes the findings of a new article we recently published in the Journal of Computational Literary Studies in conjunction with Matt Wilkens (Cornell), Elizabeth Evans (Wayne State), David Bamman (Berkeley), and Sandeep Soni (Emery). “Small Worlds: Measuring the Mobility of Characters in English-Language Fiction” studies the concept of character mobility in a dataset of over 13,000 books published in English since 1789.

Uncovering the “Small World” Effect

The article’s central finding is that fictional worlds are “smaller” than we might think. This “small world” effect manifests in several ways:

• Limited Distance: Compared to their counterparts in non-fiction, characters in contemporary fiction travel significantly shorter distances. This difference persists even after accounting for variations in book length and genre.
• Constrained Routes: The study reveals that fictional characters often tread predictable paths, gravitating towards a familiar set of locations and leaving vast portions of the world unexplored. This suggests that fictional mobility operates within a surprisingly limited network of well-trodden routes.
• Semantic Constraints: Examining the types of places inhabited by characters, the researchers discovered that fictional narratives predominantly feature domestic and private spaces like homes, rooms, and kitchens. This contrasts with non-fiction, which tends to situate characters in more public settings like workplaces or sites of political power. This finding suggests that fiction exhibits a distinct semantic investment in domesticity.

Methodological Innovations

One of the most exciting aspects of this research lies in its novel methodological approach:

• Character-Centric Analysis: Instead of merely mapping the presence of locations in texts, this study utilizes a sophisticated computational model that tracks the movement of individual characters across different locations. This character-centric lens allows for a more nuanced understanding of how fictional spaces are constructed and experienced.
• Modeling Mobility as a Process: By analyzing the sequence in which characters occupy different locations, the researchers capture the temporal dimension of movement, transforming space from a static backdrop into a dynamic process intertwined with narrative time.

Beyond the Numbers: Gender, Genre, and the Future of Fictional Mobility

The study also explores the relationship between mobility and social categories like gender and genre:

• Gender and Domesticity: While the study surprisingly found no significant difference in the distances traveled by male and female characters, it did uncover a clear pattern in the types of spaces they occupy. Female characters are disproportionately associated with domestic spaces, reinforcing traditional gender roles even within contemporary fiction.
• Genre and Worldbuilding: The researchers observed a strong connection between genre and the spatial dimensions of fictional worlds. Notably, books aimed at younger audiences tend to depict much smaller and less diverse worlds, reflecting the perceived cognitive limitations of their target readership.

Looking Ahead: Expanding the Map of Fictional Mobility

The findings of “Small Worlds” open up exciting avenues for future research:

• Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Would similar patterns of constrained mobility emerge in fictional traditions beyond the English-language corpus? Comparing and contrasting mobility patterns across different cultures could offer valuable insights into the interplay between narrative conventions, cultural values, and the representation of space.
• The Role of Fantasy and Science Fiction: How do genres like fantasy and science fiction, with their capacity to imagine entirely new worlds, challenge or reinforce the “small world” effect? Exploring the unique spatial dynamics of these genres could shed light on the complex relationship between fictional worldbuilding and the human experience of space and mobility.

By combining large-scale data analysis with a nuanced understanding of narrative theory, “Small Worlds” offers a fascinating glimpse into the often overlooked spatial dimensions of storytelling. The study’s findings remind us that even in the boundless realm of fiction, characters often operate within surprisingly constrained worlds. As we continue to explore the vast and ever-evolving landscape of literature, attending to the ways characters move through space promises to unlock new and exciting understandings of narrative, culture, and the human imagination.