Novels and newspapers in Piketty's Capital and Ideology

This article explores the use of textual sources in Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology as seriously as others have examined Piketty's use of statistics. Although a commendable attempt to engage with non-quantitative sources, the book focuses on elite novels, selects works unsystematically, and takes an old-fashioned approach to media. Ironically, Piketty's use of literature perpetuates the same focus on the upper classes that he wishes to guard against. In this response, I suggest how a book on capital and ideology might examine novels and newspapers rigorously. First, I look at how a broader understanding of literary production as a business and a focus on non-elite books might inform the use of novels. Second, I consider how to employ big-data techniques to study newspapers. Overall, I argue, taking novels and newspapers seriously shows the importance of non-elite sources and of incorporating big-data techniques often pioneered by literary scholars.