CONTACTTRACING WAR AND PEACE: A CRITICAL EXPERIMENT IN SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS

The piece applies a novel approach to the social network analysis of fiction to Tolstoy's sprawling masterpiece, War and Peace. We propose that an approach that prioritizes physical proximity provides an illuminating contrast to the typical methods for extracting social networks in fiction that are based on the proximity of character names within the text. In addition to its methodological argument, this article offers commentary on the positions of characters within the novel's social network and the changing nature of that social network across the novel's parts. We demonstrate that in the first half of the novel Tolstoy builds a tight-knit social center that the second half breaks down.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The article introduces a new approach to analyzing the social network in Tolstoy's "War and Peace" by focusing on physical proximity rather than proximity of character names. It offers insights into the positions of characters within the novel's social network and how the network evolves throughout the book. The study demonstrates a shift in the social center from tight-knit in the first half to breaking down in the second half.