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ISSN 1938-4122
Announcements
DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly
2018 12.3
Technology in the Study of the Past
Editors: Anna Foka, Jonathan Westin, Adam Chapman
Front Matter
Introduction to the DHQ Special Issue: Digital Technology in the Study of the
Past
Anna Foka, Umeå University; Jonathan Westin, University of Gothenburg; Adam Chapman, University of Gothenburg
Abstract
[en]
This is the guest editors' introduction to the Digital
Humanities Quarterly special issue on Digital Technology in the
Study of the Past.
Articles
How Technology Means: Texts, History, and Their
Associated Technologies
Joshua L. Mann, Expositus
Abstract
[en]
Technologies used to study and represent the past are not hermeneutically
neutral. Since technologies have illocutionary force, we should ask of any
representation of history, In what ways are the associated
technologies conveying meaning? In this article, the question will be
asked of a particular kind of history, textual history, taking biblical texts as
an illustrative example. The goal is to better understand how textual
technologies of yesterday, today, or tomorrow capture or obscure the material
history of their texts. The article proceeds in two main parts. First, two kinds
of technologies commonly used are examined and compared: the non-digital book
and its familiar digital counterparts. Second, we will consider ways in which
augmented reality and virtual reality have been used and might be used to
represent texts. It will be suggested that these new technologies may overcome
some of the limitation of previous book technologies in capturing a text’s
history. In conclusion, practical suggestions will be made for those who read,
study, or produce digital textual objects.
Ghosts in the Machine: a motion-capture
experiment in distributed reception
Helen Slaney, University of Roehampton; Anna Foka, DH Uppsala and Humlab Umeå; Sophie Bocksberger, University of Oxford
Abstract
[en]
Digital reconstructions of classical antiquity are generally ocularcentric,
appealing only to the sense of vision. We propose that new technologies may be
used to engage the other senses in the act of reception, and specifically here
we focus on kinaesthesia, or the sense of self-movement. This paper analyses a
phase of the project Ancient Dance in Modern Dancers in which participants
created performance pieces in a genre of Graeco-Roman dance for use in a
motion-capture system. It was necessary for the performers to develop a range of
translational strategies in order to communicate their movement to the system,
entailing what we term “distributed reception”, in which the ultimate
recipient of ancient source-material is not a human actor but rather the machine
with which s/he is in collaboration.
Reviving Classical Drama: virtual reality and
experiential learning in a traditional classroom
Eleni Bozia, University of Florida
Abstract
[en]
Over the past decades the advancement of technology and its subsequent
introduction to the humanities has led to the development of several
applications that enhance study and research in areas such as Classics,
archaeology, epigraphy, and linguistics. The focus of digital humanists and
other humanities scholars has turned to the efficient storage of information
that facilitates search, comparative studies, accessibility, and consequently
research. The common point of reference for the aforementioned applications is
that they do not involve the need for the scholar to
“physically” be in a virtual space. In areas, such as
archaeology and epigraphy, the creation of projects that provide access to 3D
models of the artifacts as well as to virtual replications of ancient sites has
resulted in the opening of new areas of research and reconsideration of
traditional research issues. Also, argue that digital
visualizations may make the ancient world more accessible to a larger audience.
One may comprehend the structure of a vase and analyze its artistic patterns by
zooming and relighting it. A problem that is yet to be considered, though, is
how a scholar and a student are to perceive Classical drama, the theatrical
space, the distances between the actors, the chorus, and the audience, the
logistics of the performance, and the cultural aspects at play. This paper
discusses the importance of experiential learning and the use of virtual reality
as a means of promoting traditional edification methods, virtually recreating
the actuality of the stage, and presents the Magic Mirror Theater, a web
application designed to facilitate the study of Classical drama.
Recording invisible proofs to compose stone
narratives. Applications of Near Infrared Spectroscopy in provenance
studies.
Claudia Sciuto, Umeå University
Abstract
[en]
The history of human-environment interaction is embedded in stone. Stones are
essential components of daily life and their various usage characterize certain
areas or chronological periods. The form of a stone object is the result of a
long chain of interactions with distinct bodies but the intangible life story of
any artefact is partially registered in its original material properties and
gradual physical alteration. Digital systems can be adopted for collecting these
invisible records and tracing a stone’s history. Chemical imaging and portable
spectroscopy are quick and non-destructive remote sensing techniques that can be
used to gather empirical data and track production and use of stone artefacts
over time. This article reviews the application of Near Infrared Spectroscopy as
a method for geochemical characterization of objects and as a tool for
provenance studies within the Mobima project, carried out by an
interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and chemists at University of Umeå,
Sweden.
Near Infrared Spectroscopy can be used for acquiring and processing spectral
information directly in the field, modelling datasets of big assemblages and
classifying objects.
Making stones’ biographies visible will help understanding the entanglement of
past societies and their geological landscapes.
To tree, or not to tree? On the Empirical Basis
for Having Past Landscapes to Experience.
Philip I. Buckland, Umeå University, Sweden; Nicolò Dell'Unto, Lund University, Sweden; Gísli Pálsson, Umeå University, Sweden
Abstract
[en]
This article provides an overview of some of the complex issues involved in
reconstructing and visualizing past landscapes. It discusses the importance of
empirical data and introduces some of the terminology necessary for
understanding methods which are often considered more in the domain of the
natural sciences than humanities. Current methods and practices are put in the
context of environmental archaeology, archaeological theory and heritage
management as well as related, briefly, to the broader context of archaeological
theory, practice and research data infrastructure. Finally, some examples and
pointers for the future are given in the hope that the article may provide a
point of reference for those looking to gain an entry point into the study of
past landscapes, and understand their relevance in archaeological
visualisation.
Articles
Researcher as Bricoleur: Contextualizing
humanists’ digital workflows
Smiljana Antonijevic, The Pennsylvania State University; Ellysa Stern Cahoy, The Pennsylvania State University
Abstract
[en]
This paper presents findings from a set of contextual inquiry sessions completed
in 2016 as part of the four year Digital Scholarly
Workflow project (2012-2016) conducted at the Pennsylvania State
University and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Studying humanists’
workflows through contextual inquiry enabled us to gain valuable empirical
insights into digital scholarship from the perspective of individual scholars.
This small-scale observational study (N=8) supplemented findings from our larger
scale (N=196) and medium scale (N=23) studies previously completed in the
project, allowing us to develop deeper qualitative understanding of how
humanists’ research practices change in the encounter with digital technologies.
Through close contextual analysis of information-based research activities we
illustrate how humanists build rich personal collections of digital sources,
which become important information resources in their work. We also examine how
adoption of digital tools transforms the established methods of managing primary
and secondary sources, bringing hastier digital workflows to traditionally more
methodical work. Finally, we show that efficiency cannot be qualified as a
neutral or inherent characteristic of digital tools, independent of scholars’
practices, since scholars’ interaction with digital artifacts determines what
constitutes efficiency of a tool in the context of a scholar’s workflow. We
conclude that in humanists’ workflows digital and analog tools and resources do
not necessarily replace one another or vie for the dominant position. They
rather supplement each other in an interconnected, hybrid workflow that comes to
our respondents as an organic manifestation of their work, and as an
illustration of the bricolage character of humanists’ digital workflows.
Machine-aided
close listening: Prosthetic synaesthesia and the 3D phonotext
Chris Mustazza, University of Pennsylvania
Abstract
[en]
This paper proposes a new listening methodology that lies, in some sense,
between Charles Bernstein’s close listening and Tanya Clement’s distant
listening. While it’s tempting to think of these approaches as presenting an
integral of scope, Bernstein’s work proposes the use and tuning of the human ear
for understanding the sonic materiality of the phonotext, while Clement’s work,
following its namesake of Moretti’s distant reading, calls for a form of
surrogate listening — using the machine in place of the ear. Building on
Bernstein’s work and toward Clement’s, I suggest Machine–Aided Close Listening
as a methodology that uses data visualization as a prosthetic extension of the
ear. This is to say that by considering three dimensions of the phonotext — 1)
the textual manifestation of the poem, 2) the audio of the poet performing it,
and 3) a visualization of that audio — the reader–listener can empirically
confirm the ear’s impressions and expose new facets of the sonic materiality of
the performed poem. In support of this methodology, I will demonstrate a new
digital tool for aligning these three facets of the phonotext.
Case Studies
Author Biographies
URL: http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/preview/index.html
Last updated:
Comments: dhqinfo@digitalhumanities.org
Published by: The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations
Affiliated with: Literary and Linguistic Computing
Copyright 2005 -
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Last updated:
Comments: dhqinfo@digitalhumanities.org
Published by: The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations
Affiliated with: Literary and Linguistic Computing
Copyright 2005 -
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.