Envisioning the Digital Humanities (DHQ Article, Patrik Svensson)

This is the last of a series of articles on DHQ exploring debates within and about the digital humanities

Over the last couple of years, it has become increasingly clear that the digital humanities is associated with a visionary and forward-looking sentiment, and that the field has come to constitute a site for far-reaching discussions about the future of the field itself as well as the humanities at large. Based on a rich set of materials closely associated with the formation of the digital humanities, this article explores the visions and expectations associated with the digital humanities and how the digital humanities often becomes a laboratory and means for thinking about the state and future of the humanities. It is argued that this forward-looking sentiment comes both from inside and outside the field, and is arguably an important reason for the attraction and importance of the field. Furthermore, the author outlines a visionary scope for the digital humanities and offers a personal visionary statement as the endpoint to the article series. (link)