Authorship and Writing Style: An Analysis of Syntactic Variable Frequencies in Select Texts of Alejandro Casona
Lisa Barboun, Arunava Chatterjee · 2000
This research is a partially computer-assisted transformational-generatively based analysis of select dramatic works of the Spanish author Alejandro Casona. Of interest are the frequencies with which certain syntactic variables occur in the works. The syntactic structures considered are analyzed within a framework somewhat loosely based on a transformational-generative model first proposed for English in Syntactic Structures (Chomsky, 1957), later modified in Aspects of a Theory of Syntax (Chomsky, 1965), and adapted for Spanish in A Transformational Grammar of Spanish (Hadlich, 1971). By calculating cross-correlation functions for syntactic variables in selected works of Casona, the researchers are able to compare the frequency of these variables between literary subcategories, as well as between plays that Casona has written for adults and those he has written for children. Of interest is examining whether there is an overall consistency in Casona's syntactic style. Such consistency might suggest that there are identifiable features of Casona's style, and perhaps, by extension, the style of other authors. Being able to provide evidence to support the notion that one can determine a blueprint of an author's style is of interest given the research that has arisen concerning texts that have a disputed or unknown author (e.g. La segunda Celestina, The Federalist Papers, or works attributed to Shakespeare).