Chronology and Statistics : Objective Understanding of Authorial Meaning

This paper is an attempt to prove that chronology and statistics are the effective means for objective interpretation of authorial meaning. In defence of his hermeneutic theory against Eagleton’s liberal-humanistic opposition, Hirsch asserts no other object can be the norm of literary criticism than authorial meaning. One of the most useful tools for the objective detection of authorial meaning is the Sanger-Kroeber method—Sanger’s chronological study of the structure of fiction and Kroeber’s statistical quantification of formal elements. Its application to the analysis of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton reveals that the novel’s central protagonist is the eponymous heroine, not her father as has been conventionally considered. Subjective readings will be superseded by new ones. But, readings based on objective data will not