Digital reflective aesthetics in literary studies: From big data to new hermeneutic horizons

The development of digital technology and the emergence of phenomena big data has shifted the paradigm of literary research from in-depth reading of single texts to reflective reading of collective patterns. This article introduces the concept of Digital Reflective Aesthetics (DRA) as a hermeneutic approach that bridges computational analysis with humanistic reflection. Different from purely quantitative approaches in digital humanities, DRA positions literary data visualizations—such as theme maps, character networks, and emotion curves—as aesthetic and cultural artifacts containing philosophical meaning. The DRA conceptual model is built on three main layers: data, pattern, and meaning, which interacts dialogically through Aesthetic, Hermeneutic, Cultural, and Ecological-Spiritual principles. By combining the theories distant reading (Moretti), cultural semiotics (Lotman), and digital hermeneutics (Hayles), this model broadens the perspective on literary data as a landscape of cultural awareness. The results of the study show that DRA not only produces a thematic and emotional mapping of Indonesian literature, but also offers a reflective framework for reading local values ​​such as ngelmu rasa (‘inner knowledge’) and art as education of the soul in a digital context. This concept has implications for decolonizing digital epistemology in Southeast Asia and rehumanizing the relationship between technology and culture. Thus, Digital Reflective Aesthetics becoming a conceptual bridge between computing and contemplation, opening up new horizons for literary research that is characterful, rooted, and relevant to the challenges of the digital era.