Digital humanities : An adaptive theory approach

This chapter explores the broad and multifarious field of Digital Humanities providing a brief overview of the main strands – both competing and converging, established and emerging – that claim centrality in this domain, seeking to identify key points of intersection and attempting to map potential avenues for theory development involving reciprocal influences among them. While definitions of DH abound, the very nature of what is at the same time a field of investigation, a domain of practice, and a set of methodologies makes it difficult to devise a description that adequately accounts for its diversity. The chapter identifies three distinct categories in DH: 1) the use of digital methods of analysis in the humanities; 2) the study of digital artifacts; and 3) the development and deployment of digital practices for the organization of knowledge. Natural language processing and automated translation are two further areas which can be argued to contribute to the field. The three above mentioned strands may be conceptually distinct, but in practice their boundaries often merge and overlap. In particular, the rise of digital methods of analysis on the one hand, and of new genres and modes of textuality linked to the affordances of the new media on the other, have had a huge impact on humanities research. Within this scenario, I argue that theories of language and discourse must be ready to accept the challenge of the digital. In the evolving cultural and methodological landscape which characterizes today’s humanities, I contend that an adaptive theory approach is needed to successfully address the questions raised by DH.