Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2024

The Data Cage and Critical Breakout

(Abstract)

Wang Xiaoying

Data logic has become foundational and structured throughout the entire practice of online literature. On this basis, criticism has increasingly incorporated datathinking, implicitly relying on the brute force of data. Data available for online literary data criticism is extremely limited. Under the monopoly of platforms, critics confined within data cages conduct research with biased software models, resulting in data criticism that lacks comprehensive data support and relies on their statistical literacy for operation. In practice, data criticism often manifests as simplistic quantitative analysis and interpretation. It exhibits obvious obscurity, necessitating reliance on certain concepts and interpretations to enhance the strength of humanistic discernment, allowing literary criticism to continuously advance through the seamless integration of qualitative and quantitative analysis.