|
Activity Number:
|
327
- Stories of CHANCE: Frontiersman, Exoneree, Player, Spy
|
|
Type:
|
Invited
|
|
Date/Time:
|
Thursday, August 12, 2021 : 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
|
|
Sponsor:
|
CHANCE
|
|
Abstract #316619
|
|
|
Title:
|
Was the Wild Frontiersman a Prolific Penman? A Stylometric Investigation into the Works of Davy Crockett
|
|
Author(s):
|
David Iain Holmes and Ferris Samara*
|
|
Companies:
|
George Mason University and George Mason University
|
|
Keywords:
|
Davy Crockett;
Authorship Attribution;
Stylometry
|
|
Abstract:
|
The American icon and folk-hero David (Davy) Crockett (1785-1836) is known to all as the legendary bear-fighting “King of the Wild Frontier” but it is not widely known that Crockett was also a member of the United States Congress in the 1830’s. To attract a voter population previously neglected - the frontiersmen - and given Crockett's lack of formal education and inability to write coherently, politicians, friends and authors helped Crockett write his legislative documents and speeches. There is also significant historical evidence that Crockett did not write the four books published under his name. This study uses stylometry to add modern techniques of non-traditional authorship attribution such as cluster analysis and machine learning classifiers to more traditional investigations into the authorship of Crockett's purported works. It uncovers the most likely authors/ghostwriters of the books.
|
Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.
Back to the full JSM 2021 program
|
