Instructions - Ecclesiastical Proust Archive
1. Quick Instructions
2. Detailed Instructions
3. Understanding the Results
4. Combined Searches - Tips and Tricks
1. Quick Instructions
On the Search page there are five functions—Text, Associations, Narrative Context, Image Properties, Pagination. You can combine as many as you like by entering information in the desired fields. To exclude a function from a search, simply leave it blank.
Searching
- Choose one or more of the functions simply by entering information.
- Choose whether to view Associations and/or narrative context notes in the results by checking the appropriate boxes.
- Hit Enter or click on the Search button.
Results
- From left to right are displayed the pagination information, the passage, the Associations (if selected), the narrative context (if selected), and the image.
- If associations are displayed you can click on one to view all related passages.
- Pause your mouse cursor over the image to see its caption and source citation.
- Click on the image for a larger version.
- Captions and source citations can also be found in the categorized image Galleries.
2. Detailed Instructions
A. Text Search
This is a standard text search that allows you to enter a word, wildcard, phrase, or boolean phrase. The text used here is from In Search of Lost Time: Volumes 1-6 by Marcel Proust, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, coyright © Random House, Inc. and Chatto and Windus. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.
Word
Enter a word to search for in the passages of the novel as shown in the following screenshot. This is a literal text search, so to find both singular and plural versions of a word or its variations, perform a wildcard search.
Wildcard
Enter the root of a word or several letters ending in an asterisk in order to obtain all the variations of that word contained in the archive. For example, a wildcard search for hawthorn* will return all passages containing hawthorn or hawthorns. The search on ugl* shown in this screenshot will return all passages containing ugly and ugliest:
Phrase
To search for an exact phrase, enter the words as they would appear in the passage. For example, the search on ugliest places in the following screenshot will return the passage containing that exact phrase. To search for two or more words that exist in a passage together but not necessarily in sequence, perform a boolean search.
Boolean
To search for two or more words not necessarily in sequence, type them into the text box with either the and or or operator and place the whole phrase between quotation marks.
For example, if you perform a boolean search on "Charlus and Saint", as shown below, you'll receive the one passage that contains both the words Charlus and Saint. If you run a search on "Charlus or Saint" you'll receive a number of passages containing one or both of those words.
For greater specificity you can connect more and more words with the and operator (i.e. "Charlus and Saint and edification"). Likewise, for greater breadth you can connect more and more words with the or operator (i.e. "Guermantes or window or mauve").
Wildcards also work within a boolean search (i.e. "Charlus and Saint*").
At present it is not possible to combine and and or operators within a search.
B. Associations Search
This is a dropdown menu, shown below, that allows you to search passages by the Associations connected with them. An Association is a theme, concept, motif, or other structural element present in the passage. For a more comprehensive treatment of Associations, please read the Rationale.
You may opt whether or not to view the Associations in the search results by ticking the checkbox next to the Search button, as shown in this screenshot:
C. Narrative Context Search
This is a dropdown menu that allows you to search passages by the contextual notes connected with them. Since each passage has been decontextualized, notes on the context have been provided in order to help readers reconnect the narrative. These notes are highly specific and, when searched, will usually result in only one or two passages, though there are exceptions.
As with the Associations, you may opt whether or not to view the narrative context notes in the search results by ticking the checkbox next to the Search button.
D. Image Property Search
This is a dropdown menu that allows you to search by image property. Image properties consist of the architectural style of the church (i.e. Gothic or Romanesque); the part of the church; the interior or exterior; the country and/or region in which it resides; the type of medium (i.e. painting, photograph, print, drawing); whether it is in color, black and white, or monochrome; and more. At present, it is only possible to search by one image property at a time.
E. Pagination Search
This function allows you to search a continuous section of the novel by entering beginning and ending page information separated by the two vertical lines: ||. In Search of Lost Time is broken down into volumes, parts, chapters, and pages.
At present you must enter all the relevant pagination information, so please see the Synopsis page to find out what numbers you need to enter for a given part of the novel.
For example, if you want to view all the passages in volumes two and three, the information you would enter would be as follows:
These numbers will search from volume 2, part 1, chapter 1, page 1 to volume 3, part 2, chapter 2, page 819 (the first page of volume 2 to the last page of volume 3). In order to obtain accurate results, all of the numbers you enter must fall within their allotted sections.
An example of a faulty pagination search would be as follows:
Searching these parameters will only garner you the first three records of volume 4, which end at page 24. This is because part 2 of that volume begins on page 45 (which you can find out by looking at the Synopsis page). Any page numbers of 45 and up must be entered along with their proper part and chapter numbers. The archive quits returning passages at the point where the information stops making sense.
To correct the error above, you would need to change the part number in the end portion of the search field to 2:
These parameters will now garner all the passages up through page 103 because the correct part and chapter numbers are in place.
3. Understanding the Results
Every search of the archive will generate results in a uniform format. From left to right you will see the pagination information (volume, part, chapter, page start - page end), the passage itself, its Associations (if selected in the Search page), its narrative context (if selected in the Search page), and an image depicting a church. These categories are indicated by the column headers at the top of the results page:
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Pagination
As mentioned above, In Search of Lost Time is organized by volume, part, chapter, and page. This information is given in the search results as a four-part series of numbers.
The pagination numbers in the screenshot above indicate that the passage occurs in Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, from Pages 222 to 223.
Passage
This is the entire passage having anything to do with a church or the topic of churches. Most often it is a description of a church, such as that of Combray or Saint-André-des-Champs, but it might have anything to do directly or indirectly with church as building, meeting place, or metaphor. Please read the Rationale for a more comprehensive explanation of how passages were selected and delimited.Associations
If selected before searching, this column shows the list of Associations present in the passage. They appear as links: when you click on one you will initiate a new search that will recall all passages paired with it. Associations are themes, concepts, motifs, or other structural elements. For a more comprehensive explanation of this category and how it used, please read the Rationale.Context
This column presents a note on the narrative context of the passage in order to help the reader reconnect it with the rest of the novel.Image
Each passage is connected with an image that displays a church. The images depict either a real church mentioned in the passage or the original of a fictional church. Where no original could be found, the image shows the architectural style or part of the church or the mood of the passage.Source Citations
Captions and source citations are given in a tooltip that appears when you let your mouse cursor pause over the image, as shown in this screenshot:
The same information is provided directly in the image Galleries. These are categorized by location and further organized by interior, exterior, color, and black and white.
4. Combined Searches - Tips and Tricks
Multiple search functions may be used simultaneously simply by entering information in the desired fields before executing the search. The engine will not search by any functions that are left blank.
When combined, search functions work like an and operator: the more you use, the greater the specificity of the results.
Examples of just a few of the possibilities appear below.
-> Example: Text and Association
If you want to see how naughty Charlus can be when he's had a drink, enter Charlus in the Text field and select Alcohol from the Associations menu and execute the search:
The archive will return to you the passage at 5 2 2 789 and an image of Paray-le-Monial. For comparison, run a search only on the Alcohol association or only for the word Charlus and you will see the greater number of passages returned for this less specific search. Try running an association search only on Drinking for an alternative selection.
-> Example: Paring Down by Use of the Pagination Fields
If you are studying a particular section of the Recherche, delimit the number of extraneous results by entering the pagination information of that section in conjunction with your other search parameters. For example, to examine the role of lunch within the many descriptions of the Combray church in Volume 1, go to the Synopsis page, locate the pagination range of that section (Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Pages 1 through 264), and enter it into the Pagination fields. Be sure to select the Lunch association as well:
This search will generate a number of passages pertaining to lunch and churches. To see if there is a different range of passages on this connection, try leaving the Associations field blank and type lunch into the Text field (keeping the pagination numbers the same), and see what you get.
-> Example: Textual and Visual Comparison
One way to run a search that integrates textual and visual properties would be to combine the Association and Image Property functions. This combination would assemble a series of readings and images that bear a thematic and/or iconic relation to one another.
For example, many of the passages that have to do vaguely with the desire for woman also describe imaginary Gothic cathedrals (usually the porch). Select Desire for woman in the Associations menu and Gothic in the Image Properties menu, leaving the other fields blank for the greatest number of results:
This search will generate a number of passages that present textually and visually similar results.
There are virtually unlimited possibilities of search combinations—see what you can find!