A mathematical approach to the analysis of social systems from ancient texts

Ancient narrative and myth have been a topic for academic debate for many years – but largely in the fields of humanities and literature. Coventry University researcher Professor Ralph Kenna takes this approach a step further by bringing maths and the mythical together.

The Math Meets Myth research (MMM), led by Professor Kenna from the Research Centre for Fluid and Complex Systems brings together research from the analysis of complex social systems, the humanities and mathematics, to investigate mythical stories, and identify distinguishing characteristics.

MMM brings a greater understanding of cultural inheritance and social networks, and the research has gone on to apply these learnings to help create change in teaching and learning and improving efficiencies for business and industry.

The aim of Professor Kenna’s work was to bring together natural scientists and humanities scholars to explore the applicability of mathematical sciences to current and past cultures, here the MMM team explore quantitative modelling for the understanding of textual narratives.

Just as the ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ concept says, most people are six connections or fewer away from each other, MMM researchers connect characters in myths to see how far they adhere to real social patterns. So far, the research has found that Beowulf has more in common with authentic social structures than with epic fiction such as JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

MMM has run a series of public workshops to bring the research to life for local people. Participants had a simple storytelling session of Beowulf (an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines – which is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature) and were asked to take on a character, before using hula hoops and ribbon to make a human relationship network as a visualisation. The public engagement activities were designed to help people think about maths in a new way, particularly with the aim of inspiring girls to study STEM subjects at A level and beyond.

Tata Steel, a steel supplier and manufacturer in India, utilised MMM research to innovate their tracking activities in product development. Prior to this study, the majority of the time in Tata Steel’s data science and analytics was spent data harvesting, rather than analysing it for quality control.

Using the MMM research, Tata Steel revolutionised their initial 80:20 data harvesting to data analytics ratio and later added Coventry University to their trusted external partners list.

Tata Steel later replicated a MMM visualisation developed for mythological networks to develop an interactive user interface for digital-passport display purposes. Two MMM PhD students were awarded key positions in Tata’s data science and analytics research and development team. Individual departments in Tata Steel now focus on root cause analysis, identifying problems in efficient manners.

A further study focused on a network analysis of the Viking Age in Ireland, with MMM providing quantitative clarification of a 250-year-old debate. The historic belief was that the battle’s Irish victory finally broke Viking power in Ireland, as opposed to the revisionist view that the conflict was between opposing Irish sides. The debate was re-entered into the public domain in 2014, around the 1000-year anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf. The release of the MMM study was timed for anniversaries where parents, students and the wider public in Ireland and Scandinavia were engaged in the debate. This led to researchers delivering shows at a ‘Mysteries Festival’ about the evolution of ideas and creativity.

The research unveils subtle narrational tricks, including how natural social networks are mirrored and how significant events are scheduled.

Through widespread media coverage, the Math meets Myth project has changed understandings, impacted preservation of culture, and evoked a public campaign, building new creative practice, and artistic expression.