Quantitative Analysis about the Topic Changes of Meian and Zoku Meian

Abstract

In this paper, we apply the structural topic model to extract topics from Meian and its sequel Zoku Meian, which are written by different authors, and investigate the changes in topic. As a result, we obtained topics that match the contents of the Meian and Zoku Meian, and visualized the time series changes of the two novels. Based on the analysis results, we concluded that although Zoku Meian is a product of stylistic imitation, the author Mizumura Minae exerted her imagination in the development of the plot and moved the narrative forward. Through this analysis, we proved the applicability and effectiveness of the topic model in detecting the changes of topic in novel.