Emotions in the literary text. A digital analysis of Cervantes' narrative

Abstract

Several authors have recognized the importance that emotions play in the literary text to capture the reader's attention without literary criticism having incorporated them into their study. In the present work, the first digital sentiment analysis in Cervantes’ narrative of which there is evidence carried out to identify the author's use of emotions. The results show how Cervantes uses an important number of emotional words that varies in frequency and quantity in the course of his work. Likewise, it shows how the constant change in the polarity of the text contributes to create a certain emotional tension that the author knows how to use masterfully. This emotional contrast can be observed not only throughout each of the literary works analyzed, but also throughout the literary career of Cervantes. This novel analysis makes an approach to a promising field of study that presents results of value and significance for the advancement in the knowledge of the use of emotions in the literary text.