Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks
Abstract The structure of cultural networks emerges from complex interactions among many elements related to people, ideas, and objects. However, these interactions can be very subtle and difficult to quantify, precluding a quantitative analysis of the cultural networks that can be crucial to unders...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04772-5 |
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| author | Luis A. Miccio Paschalis Agapitos Carlos Gamez-Perez Francisco González Juan Luis Suarez Gustavo A. Schwartz |
| author_facet | Luis A. Miccio Paschalis Agapitos Carlos Gamez-Perez Francisco González Juan Luis Suarez Gustavo A. Schwartz |
| author_sort | Luis A. Miccio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The structure of cultural networks emerges from complex interactions among many elements related to people, ideas, and objects. However, these interactions can be very subtle and difficult to quantify, precluding a quantitative analysis of the cultural networks that can be crucial to understanding complex dynamics better. In this work, we propose a new approach that combines the formalism of complex networks, the structural relationship between nodes, and the corpus of Wikipedia to map and analyse the interactions among cultural entities. To test the proposed methodology, we study the case of the interdisciplinary cultural network connecting art, science, and philosophy in Europe in the seventeenth century. The results are aligned with well-established historical knowledge of the period and, more importantly, provide new insights to unveil how elements in these networks interact with each other. In particular, we found that nodes within a given cluster, related respectively to art, science or philosophy, interact with nodes in the same cluster following a core-periphery behaviour. In contrast, inter-cluster interactions across disciplines follow a power law distribution. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-55264344b5cf4cf486a9d5ff5c73145d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-55264344b5cf4cf486a9d5ff5c73145d2025-08-20T01:52:55ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-04-0112111310.1057/s41599-025-04772-5Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networksLuis A. Miccio0Paschalis Agapitos1Carlos Gamez-Perez2Francisco González3Juan Luis Suarez4Gustavo A. Schwartz5Centro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU)Donostia International Physics CenterUniversitat de Barcelon, Departament d’Educació Lingüística, Científica i MatemàticaUniversidad de Oviedo, Departamento de Filología Inglesa, Francesa y AlemanaCulturePlex Lab, Western UniversityCentro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU)Abstract The structure of cultural networks emerges from complex interactions among many elements related to people, ideas, and objects. However, these interactions can be very subtle and difficult to quantify, precluding a quantitative analysis of the cultural networks that can be crucial to understanding complex dynamics better. In this work, we propose a new approach that combines the formalism of complex networks, the structural relationship between nodes, and the corpus of Wikipedia to map and analyse the interactions among cultural entities. To test the proposed methodology, we study the case of the interdisciplinary cultural network connecting art, science, and philosophy in Europe in the seventeenth century. The results are aligned with well-established historical knowledge of the period and, more importantly, provide new insights to unveil how elements in these networks interact with each other. In particular, we found that nodes within a given cluster, related respectively to art, science or philosophy, interact with nodes in the same cluster following a core-periphery behaviour. In contrast, inter-cluster interactions across disciplines follow a power law distribution.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04772-5 |
| spellingShingle | Luis A. Miccio Paschalis Agapitos Carlos Gamez-Perez Francisco González Juan Luis Suarez Gustavo A. Schwartz Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks |
| title_full | Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks |
| title_fullStr | Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks |
| title_short | Wikipedia as a cultural lens: a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks |
| title_sort | wikipedia as a cultural lens a quantitative approach for exploring cultural networks |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04772-5 |
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