Towards a Digital Epistemology : Aesthetics and Modes of Thought in Early Modernity and the Present Age

This book explores the concept of __digital epistemology__. In this context, the __digital__ will not be understood as merely something that is linked to specific tools and objects, but rather as different modes of thought. For example, the __digital__ within the humanities is not just databases and big data, topic modelling and speculative visualizations; nor are the objects limited to computer games, other electronic works, or to literature and art that explicitly relate to computerization or other digital aspects. In what way do digital tools and expressions in the 1960s differ to the ubiquitous systems of our time? What kind of artistic effects does this generate? Is the present theoretical fascination for materiality an __effect__ or a __reaction__ to a digitization? Above all: how can early modern forms such as the cabinets of curiosity, emblem books and the archival principle of pertinence contribute to the analyses of contemporary digital forms? Foreword References Preface and Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Digital Epistemology: An Introduction 1.1 Digital/Analog 1.2 Liu/Lindhé/O’Gorman 1.3 Epistemology and Early Modern Modes of Thought 1.3.1 The Emblem 1.3.2 The Cabinets of Curiosity 1.3.3 Epistemology Engines and Recursive Historiography 1.4 Media Archaeology 1.5 The Book References Chapter 2: Evoking McLuhan’s Juxtapositions in the Digital Age: Archaeology and the Mosaic 2.1 The Past and the Contemporary1 2.2 McLuhan, Media Archaeology and Historiography 2.3 Strategies and Juxtapositions 2.3.1 Salon Culture versus Social Media 2.3.2 The Principle of Pertinence and the Mosaic of McLuhan 2.3.3 Electronic Literature versus the Renaissance Emblem 2.4 Interface. Mosaic 2.5 Hegnhøj and Essvik. Materiality and Analog Nostalgia References Chapter 3: CCC versus WWW: Digital Epistemology and Literary Text 3.1 The Mechanical Hand 3.2 The Literary Text: Operation CCC 3.3 Postdigitality and Analog Nostalgia 3.4 Digital. Tactile. Cabinet 3.5 The Principle of Pertinence 3.6 Imri Sandström: Language and the Principle of Pertinence 3.7 Kunstkammer Poetics 3.8 Babbage. Again References Chapter 4: “Books Are Machines”: Materiality and Agency from the 1960s to the 2010s 4.1 Digitization as a Lens 4.2 Digital History and Threats 4.3 Without Us: UKON 4.4 Ubiquitous Viruses 4.5 The Number of the Beast 4.6 Torsten Ekbom 1965 4.7 Johannes Heldén 2010 4.8 On Digital Humanities References Chapter 5: Towards a Twenty-First-Century Pedagogy for the Humanities 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Two Cultures 2.03 5.2.1 Counter-culture 5.2.2 Correspondence 5.3 Digital Expressions? 5.3.1 Digital Practices6 5.3.2 Digital-Born Works 5.4 From Mode of Expression to Mode of Thought 5.5 Media Archaeology, Digital Epistemology and Pedagogical Challenges 5.6 Conclusions and Challenges References Index This Open Access book explores the concept of digital epistemology. In this context, the digital will not be understood as merely something that is linked to specific tools and objects, but rather as different modes of thought. For example, the digital within the humanities is not just databases and big data, topic modelling and speculative visualizations; nor are the objects limited to computer games, other electronic works, or to literature and art that explicitly relate to computerization or other digital aspects. In what way do digital tools and expressions in the 1960s differ to the ubiquitous systems of our time? What kind of artistic effects does this generate? Is the present theoretical fascination for materiality an effect or a reaction to a digitization? Above all: how can early modern forms such as the cabinets of curiosity, emblem books and the archival principle of pertinence contribute to the analyses of contemporary digital forms?