From Postmemory to Reconstruction: A Digital Humanistic Analysis of Male Figures in Amy Tan’s Novels

• In Event: Research In Progress Roundtables Session 4
  In Invited Roundtable: Student and Educator Identity Development: Ecological Systems, Self-Efficacy, and Community Counterspaces (Table 9)

Abstract

Abstract
This study explores the portrayal of male characters in Amy Tan's novels using corpus-based methods. By analyzing a corpus of Tan's works (1989–2013), it investigates diachronic changes in the frequency and sentiment associated with male characters, highlighting a significant shift around 2000. The findings reveal an increasing prominence of male characters and a gradual shift toward more positive attitudes. This research offers quantitative insights into Tan’s evolving narrative strategies and provides a framework for applying digital humanities methods to explore emotional dynamics in literary texts.

Keywords
Digital humanities; Chinese American literature; Amy Tan; Sentiment analysis; Corpus linguistics

Author

• Xueying Wu, Northwestern Polytechnical University