In defence of sandcastles : research thinking through visualization in DH
Abstract
Although recent research acknowledges the potential of visualization methods in DH, the predominant terminology used to describe visualizations (prototypes, tools) narrowly focuses on their use as a means to an end and, more importantly, as an instrument in the service of humanities research. While acknowledging the broad range of possible approaches to visualization, we introduce the metaphor of the sandcastle to highlight visualization as a research process in its own right. We argue that building visualization sandcastles provides a holistic approach to interdisciplinary knowledge generation that embraces visualization as (1) a dynamic interdisciplinary process where speculation and re-interpretation advance knowledge in all disciplines involved, (2) a mediator of ideas and theories within and across disciplines and (3) an aesthetic provocation to elicit critical insights, interpretation, speculation and discussions within and beyond scholarly audiences. We illustrate our argument based on our own research of an exceptional literary collection.
Citation
Hinrichs , U & Forlini , S 2017 , In defence of sandcastles : research thinking through visualization in DH . in Digital Humanities 2017 : Conference Abstracts . International Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) , pp. 260-262 , Digital Humanities , Montreal , Canada , 8/08/17 . < https://dblp.org/db/conf/dihu/dh2017.html > conference
Publication
Digital Humanities 2017
Type
Conference item
Rights
© 2017, the Author(s). This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version available at: https://dblp.org/db/conf/dihu/dh2017.html
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