The double bind of validation: distant reading and the digital humanities’ “trough of disillusionment”
The digital humanities (DH) is currently in the phase of the “hype cycle” known as the “trough of disillusionment.” Franco Moretti, perhaps the most prominent practitioner of the most prominent discipline of DH—“distant reading,” the computational analysis of large quantities of literary texts—recently expressed his exasperation with the state of DH, reflecting “our work could have been better” and asking why, “considering the amount of energy, talent, and tools, going into [DH], that we have such difficulty producing great results.” Read More
