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Document Details : Title: Orde en rationalisme in het toneel van Nil Volentibus Arduum Subtitle: Een computationele benadering van vroegmoderne verhaalmodellen Author(s): VAN DER DEIJL, Lucas Journal: Spiegel der Letteren Volume: 66 Issue: 1 Date: 2024 Pages: 53-94 DOI: 10.2143/SDL.66.1.3293327 Abstract : The Dutch theatre society Nil Volentibus Arduum was founded in 1669 amid the rise of various rationalist debates in the Dutch Republic. Both the theoretical works and the plays produced by the society have often been read as expressions of a rationalist worldview and a Spinozist approach to the human passions. In this article I complicate that reading by arguing that the plays produced by Nil Volentibus Arduum were also shaped by anti-rationalist ideas. By comparing the society’s genre theory to the composition of 22 plays published by its members, I demonstrate the differences between ‘order’ versus ‘disorder’ as story models underpinning the historical and everyday realities depicted by tragedies and comedies respectively. These genre differences are analysed using quantitative narratology and network analysis, focusing on ‘storyworld speed’ and character interactions. This article thus also showcases the potential of computational methods for comparative and cross-lingual approaches to early modern drama. |
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