In his book Marxism and Literature, Raymond Williams introduces the idea of a “structure of feeling.” This term is part of a cultural theory, referring to social experiences that combine to create a tangible feeling or culture. This theory applies to close reading of texts, and in the case of Moretti’s research, novels, as well as the quantitative analysis that Moretti performs. In doing close readings of text, as we are accustomed to in English classes, we come to see that novels and other texts contribute to the recognition of certain cultural developments. According to Williams, “The idea of a structure of feeling can be specifically related to the evidence of forms and conventions – semantic figures – which, in art and literature, are often among the very first indications that such a new structure is forming” (Williams 133).
Just as Williams describes the forms and conventions of literary works as indicative of a greater cultural movement, the trends and patterns discovered by conducting a quantitative analysis of novels and genres indicates the formation of cultural trends. As Moretti states, quantitative analyses “provide data, not interpretation.” Williams’ theory of structure of feeling serves as a guiding principle with which to interpret the patterns presented in the data, even to challenge previous perceptions of culture as Moretti claims his data does.
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By looking at a wider quantitative picture of novel genres across decades, cultural feelings begin to crystalize in ways that went previously unseen when only taking a close reading of the material. Studying larger trends and patterns in genres against the backdrop of known social and political movements helps us to more accurately shape our perceptions of the cultural movements of a time and place. That is not to say that the content of novels shaped the cultural feelings of a given time. Rather, they helped to crystalize cultural movements sentiments that were already there.
