On the project
that exemplifies what digital humanities work can be and do.
January’s MLA conference
was full of digital elements and innovations, from the formal launch of the new MLA Commons social media site to
numerous panels
on the digital humanities, new media, electronic literatures, and more—and,
of course, the
many Tweets sent from most panels and about the conference overall, and the
virtual conversations started (and in some cases still ongoing) as a result. But
to my mind, the conference’s most interesting digital aspect was somewhat
hidden away: the media art exhibit “Avenues
of Access: An Exhibit & Online Archive of New ‘Born Digital’ Literature.”
Fortunately, I ventured into the upstairs room that hosted the exhibit; all of
its digital works were interesting, but as an AmericanStudier I was especially
drawn to The
Knotted Line.
It feels silly
for me to try to paraphrase or even summarize what creators Evan Bissell
and Erik Loyer (and their many
collaborators, researchers, and artists) have done there, so I strongly
encourage you to click through to their project and explore. The site is
strikingly and compellingly designed, which is obviously not at all unimportant
when it comes to digital and electronic resources. But I have to admit that
what impressed me most, and makes me most excited to find ways to bring the
site into my classrooms, is that it has significantly more depth than many
digital resources I have encountered. By that I mean partly the quantity and
quality of the text components, but also the number of interconnected resources
available at each stop on the site’s timeline, the ways in which the site
highlights multiple historical and cultural contexts as well as contemporary
links for each moment.
Here’s one
example, for a moment near and dear to my scholarly heart these days: the
site’s page for the 1882
Chinese Exclusion Act. The page includes textual information not only about
the Act, but about a trio of interestingly interconnected prior and subsequent
moments: an 1867 railroad strike; the 1933 formation of the Chinese
Hand Laundry Alliance; and a 2003 political action facilitated by the Chinese Progressive Association. It
also includes two visual engagements with the moment and histories, a brief audio
recording of a contemporary American reflecting on parallel issues, and a number
of other resources and materials to help guide students and scholars to further
investigations. The site as a whole in making a compelling AmericanStudies
argument, about the links between such histories and our contemporary prison
system; but as with any great scholarly work, it also helps those who encounter
it find their own ideas and interpretations.
Well worth your
time, and a site that represents the cutting edge of great digital humanities
work.
Final scholars of
the week tomorrow,
Ben
PS. Responses to
this project? Other AmericanStudies work or scholars you’d highlight?
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