Digital Humanities
From what I've gathered from both our reading and our collective thoughts on the topic, the term Digital Humanities refers to a methodology of expressing one's thoughts in a professional setting, particularly within the modern digital landscape. This is the most concrete definition I could produce, as the first chapter of the book focuses almost entirely on this methodology for presenting ideas. The author felt the need to take up the majority of the first chapter with first describing Digital Humanities by it's procedures, presumably so the rest of the book could go beyond those guidelines and stay focused on the true nature of DH, it's flexibility. It's lack of a concrete definition allows almost anyone to refer to the topic as a whole and immediately evoke a wide-range of opinions and topics.
The technological focus of DH gives it greater precedence over more traditional models of expression. Digital Humanities' specific process for expression first begins with your Materials for a project. Your materials need to be put into a digital format so they can be computationally traceable. DH, in compounding your materials, wants you to be aware of the fact that "The way in which materials become digital matters.". You want people to be able to interpret your data as seamlessly as possible, and DH is the study of how to do just that. The next step is Processing, and it's level of importance for the user varies based on their topic of discussion. Processing is the work your computer or other digital device is outputting based off of your input, and it is often invisible or unknown to the user. Think of the thousands of processes your computer does for you behind the screen. Processing is all digital, with very little of the humanity.
The last section of expression, Presentation, is defined as follows by our coursebook's author Johanna Drucker "PRESENTATION often makes use of online platforms such as blogs, WordPress sites, or those specifically designed for humanists, like Omeka or Scalar. These may be hard to customize and may force a project to conform to a particular argument structure.". Within presentation lies a fundamental negative of DH. Systems become old and outdated, but we still use them as developers simply update archaic modes of expression like PowerPoint. However, we can still create detailed and colorful presentations of our work within hours, and with little to no physical artistic capabilities required. Expressing our humanity through the digital landscape is both incredibly freeing and frustratingly limiting.
I really enjoyed your explanation about the digital humanities process for expression. Specifically when you said, "Your materials need to be put into a digital format so they can be computationally traceable. DH, in compounding your materials, wants you to be aware of the fact that the way in which materials become digital matters. You want people to be able to interpret your data as seamlessly as possible, and DH is the study of how to do just that." It can be hard to express yourself digitally because the person viewing your work may not take the information as it is intended. I like how you explained the different aspects that make it possible for someone to display their thoughts and opinions digitally.
ReplyDeleteI like your explanation thoroughly throughout and one aspect I liked was how you ended your first paragraph talking about the lack of definition that digital humanities brings, which you mention in the very last sentence. Unlike the past, the advancement of digital humanities is heavily important and necessary because people can express themselves and topics in a various of different ways, and I like that you focus your main paragraph on that. I also like the rhetorical question you propose in the last sentence of the second paragraph, as it questions the name of "digital humanities" when very little processing is from the humanity aspect, and more the digital aspect. When you said, "Think of the thousands", it creates the imagery allowing readers to perceive that digital humanities is primarily about presentation and not the processing that humans are in control of.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you mentioned that digital humanities doesn't have a concrete definition and can be a wide range of things. I liked how you explained the technological focus of digital humanities and the presentation part. When you said "Expressing our humanity through the digital landscape is both incredibly freeing and frustratingly limiting" explains that DH is a wide range of things and can be hard to pinpoint it to one thing. I like how you went into depth with the technological part and the presentation part.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this concept is so broad which makes digital humanities applicable to any situation. Processing is very important and seems like it could get overlooked. It gives the output based on what kind of information you are putting in the computer. And lastly we can see that the presentation aspect is very important and is composed of blogs and WorldPress sites.
ReplyDeleteYes, blogs like this one! :)
DeleteYou've hit on some important things here, like "the true nature of DH, it's flexibility." This gives us room to form our own ideas, and not be limited by only what is already out there. New digital tools are being developed all the time, for both expression and analysis. "Expressing our humanity through the digital landscape is both incredibly freeing and frustratingly limiting" I think applies to expressing our humanity in any form. Some platforms and code can limit us, but their boundaries and structures can also allow us to be creative within those constructs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said and I really liked how clear and concise your definition was. I feel like if someone had no idea what DH was then that would be a great definition to start them out with! To talk about the presentation aspect of DH, it is awesome how we can customize and make use of online platforms in our own ways. It produces an unlimited amount of options and opportunities for us.
ReplyDeleteFrom Victoria: The first sentence was great in summerazing DH in a
ReplyDeletenutshell/ This blog goes into more of the technical side of it, including
the materials for a project, next processing, then finally the
presentation of the work. Typically on some kind of social
media or platform specially for humanists