Week 6

I think language can become data in two ways. I think in the absolute sense all information is data and therefore, all language is automatically data in that sense. I also think that in the modern sense we don’t think about the word ‘data’ in this absolute sense. I think we tend to think about data as some numbers on a computer screen or database somewhere. In this sense, I think language becomes data when it is put in a digital form that is relatively easy to access and analyze. For example, we can look at Shakespeare’s works as data because we easily access, read, and download them from websites like Project Gutenberg. I think data can be used to great affect to find patterns and to look for connection. One example in literature is using data to attribute works or to try to verify whether a particular author is likely to have written a work or not. One big concern with data is access. Access to language arts must be governed according to the wishes of the author and data access must follow from this. I think another interesting and creative use for data online is in generative literature. We have already gone over grammar systems and Markov generator which can generate fake text that sounds vaguely like Kafka, for instance. These sort of systems can only work because there is easy access to digital versions of Kafka’s works and other authors.