Abstract

This study advances the use of diachronic word embeddings in cultural sociology, contributing both methodologically and substantively. Methodologically, it synthesizes best practices for constructing semantic directions and addresses challenges arising from diachronic embeddings, including missing data and semantic drift. Substantively, it examines historical changes in schemas and conceptual metaphors related to "processing." By analyzing the changing associations between processing-related words (e.g., "raw" and "refined") and evaluative categories like authenticity, valence, and aesthetics, the study examines whether word-level changes amongst schematically-related words indicate deeper cultural shifts at the schematic level. Findings indicate a growing association between processed states and inauthenticity, a growing aesthetic appreciation for unprocessed states like "raw" and "rugged," and a general valorization of unprocessed states. Together, these findings highlight the potential of diachronic word embeddings and semantic directions to track cultural change at higher-levels of schematicity, or abstraction, than previously explored.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Sociology

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/