Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Why Historians Really Need to Know About NGrams

Why Historians Really Need to Know About NGrams

Last updated on: December 12, 2024 at 6:48 am by Philip Jenkins

0 Comments

Why Historians Really Need to Know About NGrams 2024-12-12T06:48:04-04:00 Philip Jenkins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have posted quite often here on the theme of American empire throughout history, and specifically its relationship to shaping religion. This post concerns a very useful and quite surprising way of approaching that topic.

Unlike other leading Western countries, the US has been quite ambiguous about its empire, and whether in fact we can even speak of such a thing. You don’t have to go too far back in history to find claims that the US was the only great power never to have had an empire, although few would argue that now. I like the title of Daniel Immerwahr’s fine book How to Hide an Empire (2019). In some eras of US history, to write about such an empire immediately alerted the reader that the work in question was going to offer a partisan and probably radical analysis, probably with the implication that the empire should be destroyed.

That brings me to a valuable tool that we can use for virtually any purpose, and with amazing results. This is the NGram viewer, which counts the number of occurrences of a given phrase in all the works digitized by Google Books – currently well over five million volumes. Briefly, you go to the page, and enter a word, name, or phrase. You choose the languages of the texts to be examined.

I entered “American Empire,” in English, and found the pattern represented here. You can also trace the line more precisely to identify particular years as peaks or troughs of usage.

Several eras show up very markedly:

1804-1819, with a peak in 1812;

1895-1903, without any obvious peak year;

1956-1978, with a sharp concentration in 1970-1971;

and then a real recent explosion from 2001 or so, with a dramatic surge in 2012.

Equally striking are the years of near or total non-usage, through most of the period from 1820 through 1895; and again 1903-1956. The period 1978-1996 was also relatively quiet.

In themselves, these numbers have to be used very carefully, as the data give us no information about how the phrase is being used. It includes historical usages, as well as polemic or controversial ones. Nor, of course, do we have any sense of the origins or nationality of the books surveyed, nor the authors. Having said that, some reasonable impressions emerge.

In the early nineteenth century period, Americans were very conscious of their rapidly expanding power and territory, not least with the Louisiana Purchase and the imminent prospect of expansion into other lands – Canada, perhaps, and the Caribbean. The focus around 1812 is very striking, and the subsequent decline might, conceivably, represent a dose of reality given the difficult course of the war with Britain.

The period around 1900 is very predictable, given the Spanish-American War, the vicious war that followed in the Philippines, and the fundamental national debate over the imperialism issue.

The 1970-1971 peak makes just as much intuitive sense. This was the absolute height of the protests about the Vietnam War, with surging movements for racial justice, all of which freely used the rhetoric of a general assault on American Empire. (Actually, it was more likely to be spelled “Amerikan” in those years, to sound suitably German and tyrannical). In popular culture, in 1970, Jefferson Starship produced the album Blows Against the Empire. Of course American empire was in the news, the headlines, and in books both academic and popular. Indeed, the whole notion of empires, viewed as evil and oppressive, was very much established in the culture. It was in 1973-74 that George Lucas was writing a science fiction script based on the resistance to an evil empire, with characters including a plucky princess, a heroic old knight, and some funny droids.

In the most recent period, we see two related trends. One is the upsurge of serious scholarly interest in the topic of American empire, which became thoroughly mainstreamed in the present century. Serious books on the topic proliferated. At the same time, we observe the consequences of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Global War on Terror, and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Again inevitably, it was difficult to describe these struggles except in terms of a crisis of empire, and indeed a general expansion of that entity. By 2012, criticisms of the ongoing Forever Wars had become very commonplace, while this marked this point at which the Obama administration was planning withdrawal and retrenchment: US involvement in the Iraq War ended in 2011.

I would argue that following the NGram evidence gives us a solid quantitative basis for discussing this topic, and potentially a very great many more.

One obvious point to make here is that the process does not map changing interest in a topic, but in a word or phrase that is used to describe it. It might be that the same problem is known by different terms in different eras, and the NGram viewer will map the terms, but not the thinking behind them. This is important for one area on which I work which is the long-term history of sexual abuse, in which the terminology for the behavior has changed quite a bit over time. If a given phrase no longer shows up in the NGram pattern, that may or may not mean that concern about the underlying issue has changed.

We have to be very careful, then, about any claims we make based on NGram evidence alone. But equally, it is difficult to think of areas of historical research in which it might not offer at least something of value.

By the way, as a very long time science fiction reader, I have to ask. Does Joe Haldeman receive a royalty payment every time some uses the phrase Forever War, which is taken from the title of his 1974 novel? He should.

Previous Post

December 11, 2024

Christmas Letter to My Sons

Next Post

December 13, 2024 Writing Guadalupe as a Nahua-Christian Story

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Very good point about MacDonald.I am certainly a Machen fan!"

philipjenkins

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"The Scottish author George MacDonald integrated fairy world into his fiction in a way that ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"I like the idea that we can have different streams. The coffee analogy is genius."

Lisa Clark Diller

How Do You Take Your Evangelicalism?

"Geography lesson: Southern California is actually in North Texas. I've lived her for 40 years, ..."

Terry

How Do You Take Your Evangelicalism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who interpreted Pharaoh's dreams in Egypt?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joseph Aaron Daniel Moses