Measuring Mimesis

Abstract:

This essay provides a computational close reading of Erich Auerbach’s Mimesis. In particular, it examines how measurements of its basic building blocks—the chapters, quotations, and pages—can inform our understanding of how Auerbach came to terms with the representation, and distribution, of three thousand years of literary history in a single literary-critical work. By taking the measurements of Mimesis, we are in a better position to assess not only how it functions as a work of literary criticism, but also how it challenges us to imagine the way literary works exist in and over time.