The Myth of the New: Mass Digitization, Distant Reading and the Future of the Book.

Gooding, P.; Warwick, C.; Terras, M.

Abstract

This paper proposes the importance of developing a realistic theoretical framework for the rise of mass digitization: the importance of the diffusion of innovations in shaping public opinion on technology; hyperbole and the myth of the ‘digital sublime’ (Mosco 2004); and the role of different media in shaping human understanding. It proposes that mass digitization can only be viewed as a significant deviation from the print medium when it emerges from the shadow of the Gutenberg Press and exerts a similarly powerful paradigm of its own, and that as a result there is a disconnect between the reality of the medium and the discourse with which it is surrounded.

Citation

Gooding, P., Warwick, C., & Terras, M. (2012, July). The Myth of the New: Mass Digitization, Distant Reading and the Future of the Book. Presented at Digital Humanities 2012, Hamburg, Germany

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: Digital Humanities 2012
• Publication Date: 2012-07
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2014
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1155865
• Publisher URL: http://www.dh2012.uni-hamburg.de/conference/programme/abstracts/the-myth-of-the-new-mass-digitization-distant-reading-and-the-future-of-the-book/