Data mining has unveiled the six fundamental emotional arcs of storytelling, as discovered by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Vermont and the University of Adelaide. These arcs are: ‘Rags to riches’ (a rise), ‘Tragedy’ or ‘Riches to rags’ (a fall), ‘Man in a hole’ (fall-rise), ‘Icarus’ (rise-fall), ‘Cinderella’ (rise-fall-rise), and ‘Oedipus’ (fall-rise-fall).
The team analysed over 1,700 English language works of fiction to identify these arcs, using sentiment analysis to measure the emotional content of each. The results showed that the most popular arc was ‘Rags to riches’, while the least used was ‘Oedipus’.
Interestingly, the research also found that stories with more complex arcs, such as ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Oedipus’, were generally more successful. Additionally, the team discovered that different emotional arcs are more prevalent in certain genres. For instance, ‘Rags to riches’ and ‘Man in a hole’ are more common in novels, while ‘Tragedy’ is more frequent in plays.
This study paves the way for a new understanding of storytelling, offering insights into how emotional arcs can affect a story’s success and popularity. It also opens doors for further research into the emotional structure of narratives in different formats and genres.
Go to source article: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601848/data-mining-reveals-the-six-basic-emotional-arcs-of-storytelling/