The present paper is a critique of quantitative studies of literature. It is argued that such studies are involved in an act of reification, in which, moreover, fundamental ingredients of the texts, e.g. their (highly important) range of figurative meanings, are eliminated from the analysis. Instead a concentration on lower levels of linguistic organization, such as grammar and lexis, may be observed, in spite of the fact that these are often the least relevant aspects of the text. In doing so, quantitative studies of literature significantly reduce not only the cultural value of texts, but also the generalizability of its own findings. What is needed, therefore, is an awareness and readiness to relate to matters of textuality as an organizing principle underlying the cultural functioning of literary works of art.