Utopian literature, dystopias in particular, has found fertile ground in tropes related to technology and its positive and negative repercussions in education, politics, society, and the environment. While the relationship between technology and Utopia has been explored both fictionally and non-fictionally over the past few decades, the emergence of digital humanities as an established field raises new questions and connections between these two areas.
The possibilities presented by the intersection of digital humanities and utopian studies led our Digital Lab coordinator and our Digital Lab manager to present a paper titled “Democratization, Desacralization, and Idealization: A Critical Comment on the Utopian Core of the Digital Humanities” at the 24th Conference of the Utopian Studies Society/Europe this past July.
The presentation led by Luciano Moreira focused on the impact of utopian thought on digital humanities theory. This impact is highlighted by the Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0, which draws attention to the field’s “utopian core.” The presentation also emphasized digital humanities’ revolutionary pursuit of openness through the democratization of materials, tools, and knowledge.
We realised the importance of creating an intentional community characterized by values of openness, collaboration, and creativity—the very community our lab has been encouraging since its establishment in 2017.
Further outputs from this experience are coming soon. Stay tuned!
