_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ++ Former Head & Associate Professor; # Former Dean, Academic Policies & Administration; *Corresponding author: E-mail: jjohnsekar@gmail.com; Asian J. Lang. Lit. Cul. Stud., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 84-99, 2024 Asian Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies Volume 7, Issue 1, Page 84-99, 2024; Article no.AJL2C.111657 How Distant is ‘Distant Reading’? A Paradigm Shift in Pedagogy J. John Sekar a++#* a Research Department of English, The American College, Madurai – 625 002, India. Author’s contribution The sole author designed, analysed, interpreted and prepared the manuscript. Article Information Open Peer Review History: This journal follows the Advanced Open Peer Review policy. Identity of the Reviewers, Editor(s) and additional Reviewers, peer review comments, different versions of the manuscript, comments of the editors, etc are available here: https://www.sdiarticle5.com/review-history/111657 Received: 21/11/2023 Accepted: 26/01/2024 Published: 01/02/2024 ABSTRACT Life’s brevity contrasts with the enduring nature of art, and the specter of mortality perennially shadows humanity. In the contemporary landscape, millions of English-language literary works emerge annually, rendering exhaustive in-depth reading an unattainable feat for readers engaged in literary studies. The once-relied-upon method of close reading proves inadequate in addressing the expansive breadth of literary output. The imperative to incorporate computational approaches in the study of literary texts becomes evident. As we stand at the crossroads of tradition and technology, it is incumbent upon literary studies to embrace the symbiosis with computers, commonly recognized as digital humanities. This ethnoautobiographical article seeks to navigate the practical dimensions of distant reading within the realm of digital humanities. Its central thesis posits that contemporary literary academia must integrate distant reading alongside traditional close reading methodologies to comprehensively engage with the vast and diverse literary landscape. Keywords: Close reading; emotional response; subjective experience; objective analysis; computational literary study. Original Research Article