ilchinealach reviewed Enumerations by Andrew Piper
Review of 'Enumerations' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
ambitious attempt to bridge the gap between CLS and post-structuralist textual theory, we see literature as negative, quantitative topics as becoming, etc. the analyses are all quite interesting (would've liked more of them) but sometimes strain slightly under the weight of the conceptual material; do topic models actually point to negative apprehension? do word clouds conclusively undermine theory of mind? is bataille the natural source to consult on why punctuation in 20th c. poetry changes? more digging into the actual nature of the algorithms which generate these models might have helped clarify this. kicks into gear a lot more in the second half with the poetry analyses, and piper's creation of novel metrics, vulnerability, novelty etc. to analyse poetic ouevres is all v interesting. i look forward to seeing what else he'll produce in the future but ultimately still waiting for someone to bring the dialectical tradition to bear on …
ambitious attempt to bridge the gap between CLS and post-structuralist textual theory, we see literature as negative, quantitative topics as becoming, etc. the analyses are all quite interesting (would've liked more of them) but sometimes strain slightly under the weight of the conceptual material; do topic models actually point to negative apprehension? do word clouds conclusively undermine theory of mind? is bataille the natural source to consult on why punctuation in 20th c. poetry changes? more digging into the actual nature of the algorithms which generate these models might have helped clarify this. kicks into gear a lot more in the second half with the poetry analyses, and piper's creation of novel metrics, vulnerability, novelty etc. to analyse poetic ouevres is all v interesting. i look forward to seeing what else he'll produce in the future but ultimately still waiting for someone to bring the dialectical tradition to bear on CLS, a philosophical school which can tolerate the existence of things in their material actuality as well as their capacity to transform themselves in their distinct combinations
