Whispers, Alarms, and Heartbeats: A Sound Analysis of the “Men Made in America” Series
Co-sponsored by the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, the School of Information, and the Department of Scandinavian.
Svenja Guhr presents a systematic sound analysis of the Men Made in America series, focusing specifically on how auditory cues and variations in loudness are distributed across the novels. Using computational methods that combine scene segmentation with detailed sound annotation, the study identifies and categorizes moments of extreme quiet, heightened loudness, and dynamic shifts in acoustic intensity.
By mapping these patterns across the narrative structure, the study demonstrates how sound operates as a measurable and recurring textual feature. Rather than treating sound as incidental description, this analysis foregrounds loudness levels and acoustic contrasts as key elements of narrative construction, revealing how the series organizes and modulates its literary soundscapes throughout the text.
Space is limited. Submit the application form to request an invitation.
Speaker
Svenja Guhr
Svenja Guhr is a Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Information, where her research bridges applied natural language processing and literary studies. She focuses on the operationalization of literary phenomena, developing systematic methods to measure concepts like “sound,” “loudness,” and “suspense” in multilingual fiction. Previously a researcher at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, and a visiting scholar at the Stanford Literary Lab, she now leads a project investigating the modeling of suspense in American and British short fiction.
Contact
If you have questions about this event, please contact Lilli Wessling Hart at lilli@berkeley.edu.
Accessibility
If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting, CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about mobility access in order to fully participate in this event, please contact Lilli Wessling Hart at lilli@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7–10 days in advance of the event.