Given the fact, that Franco Moretti and Michel Foucault share a mutual interest in the analysis of 'big data', evolutionary theory as a tool for the study of history, and the image of the Darwinian trees, it seems fruitful to take a Foucauldian look at the theory and practice of Distant Reading. How does Moretti's large-scale approach to literary history relate to Foucauldian discourse analysis and genealogy, and what are the political implications of these methods? A Foucauldian commentary on Franco Moretti by Patrick Kilian.