Visualizing Colour in The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: A Digital Humanist Perspective

Abstract

The works of Sylvia Plath are typically predisposed to meticulous dissection, laying bare their emotive and confessional components. Naturally, these are embedded in vivid images and metaphors. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath fleshes out her innermost musings into a public space. Likewise, the torrent of colours is prevalent in these writings. This research attempts to undertake the study of the frequencies of colours in The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by deviating from the traditional textual analysis method and adopting a more distant reading method through Voyant Tools, pertinent to assess large data sets within the field of Digital Humanities. Colours constitute a giant portion of data in Plath’s journals. The frequencies of colours are visualized with regards to Plath’s pattern of behaviour and its manifestations through the journals. Colours are extensive networks of information, which augment Plath’s diary entries.  This area would not only be examined expansively, but extracted data would be displayed in the shape of graphical representations to contribute to the macroanalysis of a text. Overall, this DH research adopts a visualizing method to not solve a literary conundrum, but to put forward new patterns of information.