Accessibility and Reception:  Vector Semantics, Reading Publics, and the Changing Reception of Literary Works

1. Abstract

This paper explores the possible applications of vector semantics in the branch of literary study known as Reception Theory. Specifically, this paper suggests that vector semantics can help us identify the shared “conceptual substrates” that identify and distinguish historically delineated publics; and, consequently, that vector-space models can enrich our understanding of a literary work’s changing reception over time, in terms of its conceptual, semantic, and aesthetic accessibility.