In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), literary studies confronts profound challenges and opportunities as computational methodologies reshape both analytical practices and theoretical frameworks. This thematic column, titled “Computational Analysis and Literary Studies in the Era of AI,” examines the dynamic interplay between traditional humanistic inquiry and AI-driven techniques, including machine learning, natural language processing, and text mining. The articles explore diverse themes: AI’s impact on literary analysis, the revitalization of classical literature through digital platforms, speculative fiction’s interrogation of the human-machine interface, and AI-driven literary tourism initiatives. Drawing on multidisciplinary perspectives, contributors grapple with the epistemological, ethical, and practical implications of integrating AI into literary scholarship. While AI offers novel pathways, such as “distant reading” for expanded discovery, it also raises questions about the erosion of interpretative depth and cultural authenticity. By fostering dialogue between computational methodologies and traditional hermeneutics, this column argues for a balanced approach to literary inquiry, one that harnesses technological innovations while safeguarding the core values of the humanities.

This study explores Miguel de Unamuno’s poetry, a relatively neglected facet of his literary corpus when compared with his renowned novels and essays, employing distant reading techniques. As a pivotal member of the Generation of 1898, Unamuno’s works are distinguished by his philosophical inquiries, which span the contradictions between religious faith and rational thinking, the longing for immortality against the inevitability of death, and the search for freedom amid political repression. His poetry uniquely reflects his meditations on these existential themes, utilizing natural imagery, symbolic language, and introspective tones to connect his philosophical and emotional concerns. By employing digital humanities methods, such as lexical analysis, thematic clustering, and topic modeling, this study examines the thematic and stylistic elements that set apart Unamuno’s poetry. The analysis reveals how his poetic compositions expand his existential and philosophical inquiries, providing nuanced perspectives on the universal and deeply personal struggles that shape his literary vision. The study validates the capability of computational approaches to reveal the intricate interplay of ideas in literature, thereby enhancing interpretations of Unamuno’s complex legacy.

This study examines contemporary reader engagement with classical literature by analyzing audience responses to the webtoon Princess Bari, a modern reinterpretation of the shamanistic epic Baridaegi. It investigates how traditional narrative frameworks, when reimagined through digital media, elicit resonance among present-day audiences and mediate a dialogue between cultural heritage and modern ethical sensibilities. Employing a hybrid methodology that integrates computational text analysis with qualitative interpretation, this research analyzes user-generated comments posted on Princess Bari. Particular emphasis is placed on highly interactive responses—those accruing significant numbers of likes and replies—as a means of accessing the emotional and interpretive contours of reader reception. The findings reveal a dynamic spectrum of reader engagement, ranging from critiques of patriarchal ideologies embedded in the source myth to more nuanced reflections on marginalization, desire, and social justice. Notably, reader responses evolve over time—from initial skepticism to empathetic alignment with the narrative’s underlying humanistic impulse. This study contends that classical texts, when transposed into contemporary forms of storytelling, retain their capacity to provoke ethical reflection and emotional investment. Princess Bari, in this light, emerges as a compelling case study in how digital adaptations can revitalize traditional narratives, enabling them to speak meaningfully to the ethical imagination of the digital age.

This study explores the evolving storytelling strategies and consumption patterns of K-pop idol IP (intellectual property) through a comparative analysis of the first-generation idol group Shinhwa and the third-generation group EXO. By examining their official storyworlds—constructed through album lyrics and official concept materials—and fan-produced storyworlds such as fanfiction, the research highlights the dynamic interplay between official narratives and fan creativity. The necessity of this study lies in addressing the gap in understanding how K-pop fandom’s creative practices and digital media environments have shaped and been shaped by idol storytelling strategies across generations. Methodologically, the study employs a mixed approach combining text mining, topic modeling, and cluster analysis to analyze official album content and approximately 1,350 fanfictions. Shinhwa’s narrative, lacking a unified official storyworld, emphasizes emotional and seasonal themes, fostering fan-driven interpretations and creative reimagination. In contrast, EXO’s meticulously crafted storyworld, grounded in a supernatural concept (EXO Planet), reflects a paradigm shift in K-pop storytelling, where immersive world-building serves as a key engagement strategy. The findings reveal distinct generational differences: Shinhwa fans primarily centered their narratives around the idols’ physical attributes and relational dynamics, while EXO fanfictions incorporated official world-building elements, albeit selectively. The study further demonstrates that fanfiction, as a medium, not only supplements but also transforms the official storyworld, underlining the reciprocal and symbiotic relationship between official and fan-generated content. Additionally, the study examines the ethical implications of fan creations, particularly regarding idol privacy, image distortion, and the challenges of regulating digital fandom platforms. This research contributes to the fields of K-pop studies, fandom culture, and digital humanities by offering critical insights into the collaborative and contentious spaces of K-pop storytelling. It underscores the importance of balancing creative freedom and ethical responsibility in a globalized digital fandom context, providing a foundation for further exploration of K-pop’s cultural and industrial significance.

Chinese science fiction is gaining unprecedented attention, thanks to the contributions of Liu Cixin (刘慈欣) and Hao Jingfang (郝景芳). Liu Cixin, the first Asian to win the Hugo Award in 2015, is known for his hard science fiction with rigorous scientific foundations and cosmic settings. Hao Jingfang, who won the same award in 2016, writes soft science fiction exploring philosophical themes and human emotions, making her works deeply thought-provoking. This study focuses on Hao Jingfang’s short story collection Mirror of Man (《人之彼岸》), which examines the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and humanity. It raises diverse questions and offers varied perspectives, portraying AI both as a potential threat and a co-evolving partner. The stories prompt readers to explore their own answers to these questions, as AI is already deeply integrated into daily life. Mirror of Man is thus no longer merely “science fiction”—it reflects the contemporary reality of ethical and societal challenges brought by rapidly advancing technology.

This study examines the characteristics of the Japanese web novel genre “Isekai” through data-driven analysis and explores its cultural and social implications in contemporary Japanese society. Isekai is characterized by narratives where characters transition from the real world to another world, beginning a new life. It serves as a means of vicariously resolving unfulfilled desires and conflicts from reality, reflecting the desires of male readers. By analyzing Isekai web novel data, this study identifies that Isekai predominantly features high fantasy settings, narratives of adventure and settlement, and the use of “cheat” abilities as core elements. The analysis confirms that the genre caters to the fantasies of male readers. The case study of Mushoku Tensei reveals explicit depictions of male-centric sexual fantasies, portraying male-convenient sexual ethics, such as polygamy, in a natural and positive light. These sexual fantasies can be interpreted as a compensatory psychological response to suppressed masculinity in modern Japanese society, influenced by a stagnant economy, natural disasters, and the rise of women’s rights. In conclusion, this study empirically demonstrates that Isekai reflects the desires and cultural trends of contemporary Japanese society, fulfilling male-centric fantasies. Isekai plays a significant social and cultural role in modern Japanese popular culture.

This study aims to analyze author-themed literary tourism’s characteristics and patterns in the digital age by examining travel review data for three Japanese authors. The selected authors—namely, Natsume Sōseki (夏目漱石), Dazai Osamu (太宰治), and Shiga Naoya (志賀直哉)—are widely recognized in Japan, and their complete works have been published both domestically and internationally, with many of their writings introduced internationally. Travel reviews were collected through Python web scraping from major Japanese travel websites, including Jalan (じゃらん) and 4travel. Overall, 3,171 reviews explicitly related to the authors were selected for the analysis. This study’s findings are as follows: First, literary museums serve as central facilities in author-themed literary tourism. Second, the locations and facilities featured in the authors’ works play a key role as major tourist attractions. Third, author-themed literary tourism is closely connected to the authors’ real lives. Fourth, such tourism is influenced by the popularity of literary works and commemorative events marking the authors’ birth or death. These results suggest that author-themed literary tourism has potential as a sustainable tourism model embodying ethical values, such as community engagement and environmental conservation.

One of the most prominent figures of ethical literary criticism, Martha Nussbaum, claims that literature allows us to enter other, alien worlds, and by encouraging empathetic re-experiencing with otherness, it can make us ethically richer. On the other hand, literature is also an example of an encounter with otherness in terms of deconstructionist philosophy, that is, an encounter with unappropriable, inaccessible absolute Other, to which we do force, if we “understand” and “relive” it—that is, if we reduce it to our own experience. From the perspective of deconstruction, the ethical attitude toward the Other is to respectfully leave it in its otherness. For the theoretical mind, this duality undoubtedly holds an uncomfortable conundrum. The article tries to elucidate this conundrum with the help of Borges’ literature.

With email replacing conventional letters as the main means of communication, the internet revolution has resulted in a resurgence of the epistolary form in literature. This paper presents a textual analysis of the following novels: Yaser Shabaan’s Sons of Democracy, Rajaa Alsanea’s Girls of Riyadh, and Ibrahim Jadallah and Kalshan AlBayati’s Emails after the Night to investigate how the Arabic novel employs emails as a technique to construct its narrative and examines its impact on internal narrative methods and techniques. This experimentation has an impact on the narrative structure, level, and function, pushing the boundaries of this genre and enriching the landscape of contemporary Arabic literature. The study recommends further exploration of email as a narrative tool by comparing e-pistolary Western novels with Arabic fiction and delving into disciplinary approaches related to linguistics and cultural studies.

While existing scholarship has extensively examined various aspects of Al-Kilani’s works, a critical analysis of the ideological dimensions within Adhrāʼ Jākrtā (Jakarta’s Virgin) remains underexplored. This study seeks to fill this gap in literature. By delving into the novel’s ideological underpinnings, the study contributes fresh insights into the existing body of literature. Our analysis will illuminate the complex interplay of ideologies within the narrative, enriching our understanding of Al-Kilani’s literary contributions and their significance within the socio-political context of contemporary Jakarta. This study explores the novel’s complex ideological landscape and challenges dominant power structures in Jakarta through literary analysis, close reading, and critical and postcolonial theory. The analysis centers on Al-Kilani’s utilization of Islamic ideology as a lens to critique the shortcomings of communist policies, particularly concerning social justice and individual freedoms. The study illuminates how female characters, portrayed as agents of change, defy traditional constraints and actively pursue social and personal growth. The work examines how Islamic community and social equality principles are presented as a potential alternative to the divisive elements inherent in communist class structures. The analysis concludes that the narrative is a committed investigation into Islamic ideology set within a work of fiction. The characters, particularly female characters, are represented in line with Islamic beliefs, highlighting Al-Kilani’s distinct creative voice.

In her debut novel Dreaming in Cuban, Cuban American author Cristina García investigates the complex social, cultural, political, and psychological impact of postcolonialism on identity formation through the journey of three generations of Cuban women, which reflects developing consciousness during Cuba’s transition from colonisation to revolution. The paper aims to show the way through the remembrance and reimagination of three generations of women of the del Pino family, which is made possible by the help of myth, magical occurrences, and traditional healing practices. García attempts to recover, reconceive, and create awareness of Cuban women and cultural heritage that might have been erased. By highlighting the heritage of Cuban women who strongly survived the volatile time during the Revolution, García admits a history of trauma and female resistance to nationalist male politics. The paper also aims to emphasise how the recurring experiences of these women from three consecutive generations expose García’s employment of a major metaphor based on the ‘phoenix’ myth. The female characters go through cycles of cultural and sexual changes where García reworks the myth with the cycles of death and rebirth. Last but not least, the paper attempts to demonstrate that by using myth and magical events, García seeks to remove physical distance among women torn between cultural differences between Cuba and America, providing them with a sense of togetherness and empowerment. By combining multiple voices and alternative viewpoints on past and present, she attempts to render marginal voices and realities and to subvert and deconstruct Eurocentric notions of identity, reality, and truth.

Published in 2022, British Drama of the Twentieth Century, a collaborative effort by Chinese scholars Professor Liu Hongwei and Professor Li Jing, fills a gap in the field of British modern and contemporary drama research within China. Employing an innovative, multi-dimensional research model that integrates historical context, author studies, dramatic texts, and theatrical performance, the book effectively bridges the often-separated realms of “literariness” and “theatricality” in drama. Beyond offering a clear and comprehensive account of the historical evolution of twentieth-century British drama, the authors delve deeply into the most influential playwrights and their works of the era, enriching the field with a distinctive Chinese intellectual perspective. British Drama of the Twentieth Century exhibits significant innovation and cutting-edge thinking in its structural layout, content depth, and research methodologies. Accordingly, it is vital reading for British drama specialists and enthusiasts.