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The not-so-simple art of imitation: Pastiche, literary style, and Raymond Chandler

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Abstract

This analysis extends the tools of statistical analysis to the challenging task of distinguishing between genuine works by an author, the preeminent American writer of mysteries, Raymond Chandler, and deliberate attempts by others to mimic the author's style. Rendering the task all the more challenging, the analysis focuses exclusively on the main elements of Chandler's style rather than on his minor but telling stylistic idiosyncrasies. Statistical analysis establishes that indicators of these stylistic elements can successfully detect the pastiches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, The George Washington University, 20015, Washington, D. C., USA

    Lee Sigelman & William Jacoby

  2. Department of Government and International Studies, University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA

    William Jacoby

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  1. Lee Sigelman
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  2. William Jacoby
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Lee Sigelman is Professor and Chair of Political Science at The George Washington University. His research interests range widely throughout the social sciences, including research methods, mass communication, political behaviour, and popular culture. With Ernest Yanarella, he co-edited Political Mythology and Popular Fiction, and has published several articles on political themes in popular literature.

William Jacoby is an associate professor in the Department of Government and International Studies at the University of South Carolina. His work has focused substantively on mass political attitudes and behavior. He has a strong interest in statistical methods, and has written extensively on dimensional analysis.

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Sigelman, L., Jacoby, W. The not-so-simple art of imitation: Pastiche, literary style, and Raymond Chandler. Comput Hum 30, 11–28 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054025

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