Finding the range: Linguistic analysis and its role in computer-assisted literary study

This article describes how linguistic analysis can be used to change the computer from being a generator of data that can be used to develop a critical analysis to being a tool that provides a means to explore the processes and inputs that generate different interpretations of literary works. Using Michael Gregory's Communication Linguistics model to analyze Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX, we see how the linguistic structure of the poem allows for multiple readings of the text. The article goes on to describe how this kind of analysis can be extended by employing artificial intelligence as a means to explore the interaction between language and meaning.Stephen N. Matsuba is currently completing his doctorate in English at York University, Canada.