This insight explores the intersection of literary studies and computational literary studies (CLS). Bode critiques the prevalent representationalist paradigm in CLS, arguing that it confines modelling within an atomistic and dualist ontology, incompatible with the interdisciplinary nature of the humanities. The insight proposes a shift from representation to measurement as a framework for critical modelling in literary studies, asserting measurement as a constitutive knowledge practice within the humanities. This perspective challenges Cartesian dualism and offers a pathway to create literary phenomena through critical modelling, emphasising the transformative role of measurement in shaping our understanding of literature.