Authors: Dr. Shafia Saleem
Abstract: The emergence of Digital Humanities (DH) has fundamentally transformed the methods and objectives of literary studies. Integrating computational technologies with traditional humanistic inquiry, Digital Humanities enables scholars to analyse literary texts at unprecedented scales while preserving the interpretative richness of close reading. The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP), has further revolutionized textual analysis by facilitating automated interpretation, thematic mapping, sentiment analysis, authorship attribution, and stylistic evaluation. This paper examines the evolving relationship between Digital Humanities and literary studies, highlighting how AI-driven methodologies are reshaping literary criticism without replacing the critical insight of human scholars. It argues that AI should be viewed as an intellectual collaborator that enhances literary research by expanding analytical possibilities while preserving the centrality of human interpretation. The study also explores ethical concerns, methodological challenges, and future directions of AI-assisted literary scholarship.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21025617
