Multifractal hopscotch in "Hopscotch" by Julio Cortazar
This work addresses the statistical properties of punctuation and sentence structure in literature, but it is incremental as it applies existing quantitative methods to a specific novel.
The study analyzed sentence length variability in Julio Cortazar's 'Hopscotch' to identify distribution types and multiscale patterns, finding clear evidence of rich multifractality with left-sided asymmetry across all language versions and chapter orderings.
Punctuation is the main factor introducing correlations in natural language written texts and it crucially impacts their overall effectiveness, expressiveness, and readability. Punctuation marks at the end of sentences are of particular importance as their distribution can determine various complexity features of written natural language. Here, the sentence length variability (SLV) time series representing "Hopscotch" by Julio Cortazar are subjected to quantitative analysis with an attempt to identify their distribution type, long-memory effects, and potential multiscale patterns. The analyzed novel is an important and innovative piece of literature whose essential property is freedom of movement between its building blocks given to a reader by the author. The statistical consequences of this freedom are closely investigated in both the original, Spanish version of the novel, and its translations into English and Polish. Clear evidence of rich multifractality in the SLV dynamics, with a left-sided asymmetry, however, is observed in all three language versions as well as in the versions with differently ordered chapters.