Multifractal hopscotch in "Hopscotch" by Julio Cortazar

TL;DR

This study analyzes the sentence length variability in Julio Cortazar's 'Hopscotch' across multiple languages, revealing multifractal patterns that reflect the novel's innovative narrative structure and linguistic complexity.

Contribution

It introduces a quantitative multifractal analysis of 'Hopscotch's' sentence length variability, highlighting the influence of narrative freedom on linguistic complexity across languages.

Findings

Rich multifractality observed in all language versions

Left-sided asymmetry in the multifractal spectrum

Multiscale patterns consistent across translations

Abstract

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.