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ISSN 1938-4122
Announcements
DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly
2021 15.3
Articles
Transforming Information Into Knowledge: How
Computational Methods Reshape Art History
Sabine Lang, Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing, Heidelberg Collaboratory for Image Processing, Heidelberg University; Björn Ommer, Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing, Heidelberg Collaboratory for Image Processing, Heidelberg University
Abstract
[en]
Current research in computer vision highlights the potential of using computational
methods to analyze and access large datasets of real images and videos, performing
tasks such as object detection or finding visual similarities. This essay describes
how the application of these computational methods to digital art data transforms
information inherent in images into new knowledge. We support this claim by
presenting various research examples in the field of digital art history, which
utilize computational methods for art analysis. We argue that in order to create new
knowledge, we must involve transformative processes — from analog to digital data and
digital to computational methods. Traditional methods used in art history to access
datasets, link or edit images provide suggestions and validations for current
practices, but are not sufficient role models for the processing of digital data
because they were developed under varying technological conditions and standards and
within a different historical context. Aby Warburg’s (1866-1929) Mnemosyne Atlas, which aimed to visualize visual continuities from
antiquity to the Renaissance, is one method often cited in the context of digital
humanities. We argue that the characteristics of digital data, for example being
reproducible or modifiable, require innovative computer methods that do not have a
direct analog counterpart. Our argument is based on the success of current projects
and personal experience: the authors have expertise in computer vision and art
history. They have created and applied computational methods to analyze art data and
are thus able to identify shortcomings of traditional approaches and suggest possible
solutions. Eventually this essay presents solutions, which demonstrate the great
potential of computational methods for a data analysis: approaches enable an easy and
explorative access to digital image collections through visualization techniques or
an automatic object search. Computational methods establish links between thousands
of images, thereby identifying the adaptation of specific motifs or styles by artists
over time, or enable a conspicuous editing of images, thus providing new insights for
art history unobtainable with analog methods.
A Model for Representing Diachronic
Terminologies: the Saussure Case Study
Silvia Piccini, Institute for Computational Linguistics; Andrea Bellandi, Institute for Computational Linguistics; Emiliano Giovannetti, Institute for Computational Linguistics
Abstract
[en]
The aim of this article is to present a model for representing in an explicit and
formal way the diachronic evolution of concepts and terms in a given domain, so
that this formalization can be machine-actionable. The approach we here propose
is based on Semantic Web technologies in order to guarantee interoperability and
reuse across scientific communities of diachronic terminological resources that
can be thus easily accessed, interconnected and mutually enriched. More
specifically, the representation of dynamic evolution of terms and concepts was
performed in OWL using the N-ary relations mechanisms. In addition, a set of
SWRL rules was set up, in order to automatically identify the evolution of the
concepts evoked within a text, as well as the terms representing these concepts.
Our model was adopted to formally represent diachronic aspects of Saussure’s
terminology as they emerge from his works. An example will be provided to
highlight the potential of such a knowledge structuration for gaining a wider
understanding of the profound terminological and conceptual changes brought
about by the paradigmatic and epistemological revolutions in sciences.
Reviews
The First Steps of Digital Humanities: A Review of
Tara L. Andrews and Caroline Macé’s Analysis of Ancient and Medieval Texts and
Manuscripts: Digital Approaches
Giulia Freni, Classics Department, University of Siena
Abstract
[en]
Analysis of Ancient and Medieval Texts and Manuscripts: Digital Approaches discusses
the possibilities offered by collaboration between classical studies and digital
resources, in order to explore what could be the future of digital humanities.
Review: Katherine Bode's A World of Fiction
Ryan Cordell, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Abstract
[en]
Katherine Bode theorizes a new approach to “data rich”
literary history, in which the researcher constructs a “a
scholarly edition of a literary system” pairing annotated data with a
critical apparatus. Bode challenges the rhetoric around distant
reading, arguing it recapitulates the historical oversights of
New Criticism. A World of Fiction comprises a book
and paired database which apply this framework to the fiction published in
nineteenth-century Australian newspapers. Bode's investigation advances new
ideas about the gender of Australian fiction authors, the networks of influence
among provincial and metropolitan newspapers, and the national character of
fiction in the period. A World of Fiction is an
important intervention in conversations about computational literary-historical
analysis, as well as around the construction and use of digitized historical
archives.
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 and The Association for Computers and the Humanities
Affiliated with: Digital Scholarship in the Humanities
DHQ has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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 and The Association for Computers and the Humanities
Affiliated with: Digital Scholarship in the Humanities
DHQ has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright 2005 -
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
