Humanities computing as digital humanities

Abstract

This article presents an examination of how digital humanities is currently conceived and described, and examines the discursive shift from humanities computing to digital humanities. It is argued that this renaming of humanities computing to digital humanities carries with it a set of epistemic commitments that are not necessarily compatible with a broad and inclusive notion of the digital humanities. In particular, the author suggests that tensions arise from the instrumental, textual and methodological focus of humanities computing as well as its relative lack of engagement with the "digital" as a study object. This article is the first in a series of four articles attempting to describe and analyze the field of digital humanities and digital humanities as a transformative practice. © Melissa Terras, Julianne Nyhan, Edward Vanhoutte and all individual authors 2013.