The introduction to a special issue of New Literary History titled “Culture, Theory, Data,” which explores the consequences of computation for cultural theory—and vice-versa.

The introduction begins by explaining how we came to a historical juncture where “culture” and “data” seem to be opposed terms. Then it offers some reasons for believing that opposition is beginning to fade, including the emergence of “a new theoretical lingua franca” that draws meaning simultaneously from quantitative and from qualitative disciplines. The authors end by observing that reflection on the intersection of culture and data is particularly urgent in an era of generative language models.