[en] Social Networks and Archival Context Project: A Case Study of
Emerging CyberinfrastructureTom J. Lynch, Computer Sciences Corporation
Abstract
[en]
For digital humanists planning to build tools for cyberinfrastructure several
variables ought to be defined for each project. Pay close attention to the
balance of traditional methods and new ways of conducting research. When
gathering resources to do the job, seek contributions of different domain
experts. Also, careful consideration of a tool’s intended scope will help refine
the required resources needed to complete a project. This case study illustrates
how one project, the Social Networks and Archival Context Project (SNAC), has
defined these variables. The process of building a new tool also benefits from
an awareness of older infrastructure that has come before it. SNAC illustrates
this awareness in the way it has taken advantage of previously existing
infrastructure, both cyber and not, by extending its purpose and building new
features on top of it.
[en] Digital CaricatureSean Sturm, The University of Auckland; Stephen Francis Turner, The University of Auckland
Abstract
[en]
For Vilém Flusser, philosopher of technology, the advent of photography heralded the
return of the image from its subjection to the linearity of written language. Here we
extend his concept of the “techno-image” (successor of the
pre-historical hand-drawn image and the historical printed word), to consider the
digital image-text that today dominates reading and writing. Our question: Can we
reader-writers think the digitas, or are we doomed to perform its functions in an
“automati[c]” or “robotiz[ed]” fashion, as Flusser put it, so that, if
anything, the digitas now “thinks” us? The short answer to our question is as
follows: we can think the digitas, but only if we consider it, firstly, as a kind of
writing (“digital orthography”) and, secondly, as a caricature of
thinking, both impoverished and, dare we say it, funny (“digital
caricature”).
[en] J. M. Coetzee's Work in StylostatisticsPeter Johnston, Royal Holloway, University of London
Abstract
[en]
Though better known for the novels that eventually led to his being awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, there is a strong but less widely recognised
case for claiming J. M. Coetzee as a significant figure in the early development
of digital humanities. In light of the recent renaissance of computer-assisted
statistical approaches to literary analysis, the present article charts in
detail a formative period (1969-1973) during which this most important of
novelists first adopted, then deconstructed, and eventually rejected one of the
discipline’s earliest incarnations.
[en] Computers, Comics and Cult Status: A Forensics of Digital
Graphic NovelsJaime Lee Kirtz, University of Colorado
Abstract
[en]
The digital era has become inundated with the idea of anonymity as on the
Internet where users create avatars in forums and write without obvious material
constraint; however when considering documents such as graphic novels and print
fiction, the figure of the author remains a nostalgic figure which grants
validity to the document. In classic comic book collections such as Watchmen and
Batman: Year One by Alan Moore and Frank Miller, the original scripts by the
authors are included in special editions in both print and Kindle format. But
these “original” script pages are shrouded in forms of
anonymity as they illustrate signs of digitization, either through scanning or
during production and thus display various visual clues, such as errors, which
relay levels of realness. Furthermore online versions of these script pages,
found on fan website databases and authors’ blogs, are complicated by the
anonymity the Internet and digital editions produce. Therefore a digital
forensics methodology is used to interrogate these script pages in both print
and digital format to create an ordering system for digitally manipulated text.
It also endeavours to illustrate the possibilities for a forming digital
forensics field by using various technical calculations and recreations of text
with original software and hardware.
[en] Before You Read: A Reconstructed
Literary History in Reading by
NumbersBritt Hoskins, Virginia Tech
Abstract
[en]
“Before You Read” is a review essay of Katherine Bode's
Reading by Numbers: Recalibrating the
Literary Field (London: Anthem Press, 2012). It
encapsulates Bode’s investigation of a massive digital archive
called AustLit and highlights areas of
marginalization and omission that she uncovered in the current
historical record of Australian authorship and publishing. From
nationalistic assumptions, to gender trends, to the relationship
between colonizer and colonized, Bode systematically challenges
the existing scholarly narrative. Additionally, the book offers
a unique case study of qualitative methods in literary study,
demonstrating the value of “reading” the numbers behind a
comprehensive corpus, versus elevating selected canonical pieces
as hallmarks of history.
[en] Multiple and Converging Literacies: A Review of Learning the Virtual Life, edited by Peter
Trifonas.Adam Heidebrink-Bruno, Independent scholar
Abstract
[en]
A review of Learning the Virtual Life: Public Pedagogy in a
Digital World (New York: Taylor & Francis, 2012), edited by
Peter Trifonas. This review provides a detailed summary of the subjects explored
in Trifonas's collection of articles on digital pedagogy and their implications
on learning in an information society. Its aim is to provide researchers and
interested parties with a clear account of each chapter's argument in itself and
in relation to the other voices speaking on related subjects both within and
beyond the collection reviewed here. While this review's primary goal is to
remain objective, serving as a guide to busy scholars unfamiliar with Trifonas's
text, it also argues for the value of this collection while remaining critical
of its limitations as an anthology.
[en] Shakespeare His Contemporaries: collaborative curation and
exploration of Early Modern drama in a digital environmentMartin Mueller, Northwestern University
Abstract
[en]
This is the text of the Hilda Hulme Memorial Lecture given at the Institute for
English Studies at the University of London in July 2013.
