On the 8th of October I presented my most recent research regarding masculinities during the Neo-Assyrian period.
I have been using the techniques developed by the Semantic Domains team in ANEE to investigate the wider meanings behind masculinities. This has meant using probability measurements to measure how likely two words would occur together in a specific window of text, and then visualising the results to make analysis easier for the human researcher.
The results are preliminary, but I was able to identify some interesting ‘topographical’ patterns. More importantly, I was able to identify some traits of masculinities alluded to by archery equipment. These traits were both those which were the ‘ideal’ in Neo-Assyrian society, and traits which were not desirable for a man to attain.
This method has proven to be promising, and I hope I will also be able to explore how masculinity intersected with other aspects of identity using this method.
You can watch the recording of the presentation here:
Ellie Bennett 