Society & Culture / Literary Studies & Writing / Fiction & Narrative Studies
The Hidden Math of Fiction: How 170 Dutch Novels Reveal Literature’s Invisible Prejudices
We think of literature as a free space, a blank canvas where authors can imagine anything. But what if the stories we love are secretly running on a hidden algorithm of bias? In this deep dive, we unpack a landmark study by Dutch scholar Roel Smeets from Radboud University, who used computational analysis to map 2,137 characters from 170 award-winning Dutch novels. The results are staggering: a 60% male world, marginalized characters used as social glue but denied protagonist status, and a network so dense that it reveals subconscious racism, ageism, and classism. We explore how authors default to these patterns, how social network analysis exposes the truth, and what it means for the stories we consume. Discover why the most connected characters aren’t the heroes, how love can break the math of segregation, and how to spot the invisible power structures in your own life.
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