Using Distributional Semantics to Trace Influence and Imitation in Romantic Orientalist Poetry

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate whether textual analysis can yield evidence of shared vocabulary orformal textual characteristics in the works of 19th century poets Lord Byron and Thomas Moorein the genre of Romantic Orientalism. In particular, we identify and trace Byron s influence onMoore s writings to query whether Moore imitated Byron, as many reviewers of the time suggested.We use a Distributional Semantic Model (DSM) to analyze if there is a shared vocabularyof Romantic Orientalism, or if it is possible to characterize a literary genre in terms of vocabulary,rather than in terms of the particular plots, characters and themes. We discuss the resultsthat DSM models are able to provide for an abstract overview of the influence of Lord Byron swork on Thomas Moore.