A corpus-assisted analysis of music in fantasy literature: formal analogies and superstructure in <i>The Name of the Wind</i>

Abstract Fantasy literature and music have long been associated in a multitude of contexts, with extensive discussions on the roles and functions that music plays in fantasy worlds. Yet, careful attention has not been paid to the mechanisms employed to incorporate the medium of music into the literary text. We contend that by using corpus techniques and tools we can accurately test certain literary critical claims about the representation of music-in-literature. Specifically, we rely on corpus tools to analyze the keyness and distribution of various music-related terms while drawing on established taxonomies to assess the thematic and structural roles of music in Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind (2007). Our results provide evidence that the novel can be considered as musicalized fiction and help us recognize the particular superstructure imitated by the novel, a bard’s live performance.