Digital Humanities Areas
The digital humanities (DH) have a very strong focus on text. Text refers to that which can be read, where what is read is comprised of an internally coherent set of symbols. Although texts are most strongly associated with literary works, any document of any form that can be read, such as signs, inscriptions, or even architectural designs can constitute text. In the context of literary criticism, written languages provide the resources from which and through which text is created. Text has the property of being readily “transformed” into or represented as data. Data, in turn, is the raw material of computation, or digital processing. Because text can be digitized, or converted into a form that is conducive to digital processing, the concentration on text in the digital humanities is not surprising. Digital humanities originally emerged from this textual focus. However, other humanities disciplines have also developed, adapted, adopted, and used digital techniques to great advantage. Classical studies, history, archaeology, cultural heritage, the arts, museum studies, philosophy, music, and a host of other humanities fields successfully employ computational techniques. This section is a non-exhaustive discussion of some of the main areas in the humanities whose recent development has been heavily influenced by digital tools and techniques.
