Plot and Genre in Computational Literary Studies

Save the Date: On May 21–22, 2026 the international conference “Plot and Genre in Computational Literary Studies” will take place at the Center for Philology and Digitality (Zentrum für Philologie und Digitalität, ZPD) at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg.

Convenors: Katrin Dennerlein / Agnes Hilger / Leonard Konle / Julian Schröter / Christof Schöch / Thorsten Vitt

The conference explores how computational literary studies can model plot in ways that are comparable across methods and informative for genre analysis. Bringing together work on large-scale genre dynamics, narrative movement, segmentation, networks, space, names, and emotions, the event examines how narrative structure can be operationalized as a shared analytical object. The goal is to develop more robust models that connect narratological theory with empirical, data-driven genre research.

Speakers
Sela Artjoms, Stephanie Catani, Karina van Dalen-Oskam, Katrin Dennerlein, Keli Du, Maciej Eder, Evelyn Gius, Fotis Jannidis, Mike Kestemont, Simone Rebora, Jan Rybicki, Christof Schöch, Julian Schröter, Ted Underwood, Christof Weiß

Further details and registration information will follow.