Digital Mapping of the Nineteenth-Century Novels

Abstract

This article explores how digital mapping reshapes the study of the nineteenth-century novel by integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with literary analysis. Focusing on selected works by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, the study visualizes spatial references to examine patterns of mobility, class segregation, and urban–rural contrast. By transforming narrative settings into geospatial data, the project demonstrates how mapping reveals hidden structures of social relations and movement embedded in realist fiction. Combining distant reading with close textual analysis, the article argues that digital cartography offers a methodological innovation that deepens interpretation while challenging traditional assumptions about space, realism, and narrative form.