Murphy, Sean Edward (2019) Shakespeare and his contemporaries : Designing a genre classification scheme for Early English Books Online 1560-1640. ICAME Journal. pp. 59-82. ISSN 1502-5462
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Abstract
The language of Early Modern texts can potentially reveal a lot about Shakespeare’s language. In this paper I describe the creation of a genre classification scheme for a segment of Early English Books Online - Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP), covering the period 1560-1640. This categorisation permits meaningful comparison of the language of Shakespeare with that of his contemporaries and makes an integral contribution to The Encyclopaedia of Shakespeare’s Language project at Lancaster University. I outline the rationale behind the scheme, describe preliminary automatic genre classification work and present the prototype approach adopted for this categorisation. I also provide specific examples of classification in practice and discuss internal and external factors which influenced genre selection. I finish by suggesting how a range of scholars might benefit from this research.