Jonathan Hope

Jonathan Hope is a Professor of English at Arizona State University (ASU), affiliated with the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Lincoln Center Applied Ethics. His research bridges linguistics and literature, particularly focusing on digital humanities and corpus linguistics. He is known for debunking myths about Shakespeare’s language, such as the claim that Shakespeare invented thousands of words. Hope directed an NEH-funded summer institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library, advancing digital approaches to early modern texts.

His work emphasizes quantitative analysis, genre distinctions through linguistic features, and the intersection of language and cultural history. Key contributions include studies on Shakespeare’s grammatical structures, tragicomedy, and digital methods in literary analysis. His expertise spans Early Modern literature, contemporary stylistics, and the application of computational tools to textual studies.