Dear all,
here’s a call for papers for a special issue of Zeitschrift für digitale
Geisteswissenschaften! (German version see:
https://zfdg.de/cfp-sonderband-2023)
Neither “Fail” nor “Hymn”: Non-decisive Valuation of Literature in the Digital
Sphere
The aim of the planned special issue of the Zeitschrift für digitale
Geisteswissenschaften is to shed more light on the phenomenon of non-decisive
literary valuation under the auspices of the digital transformation, using
various approaches and concrete case studies. The call emerged from a panel at
the 27th Germanistentag in 2022.
Theme
Today, millions of readers evaluate literature using a variety of digital apps
and Internet platforms. The spectrum ranges from the awarding of stars and
likes to detailed reviews and the rewriting and rewriting practices of fan
fiction. Here, the digital space opens up a new kind of evaluation practice
beyond the premises of professional literary criticism. Especially non-decisive
acts of evaluation, which occupy a middle position between the rating poles,
allow a differentiated weighing of weaknesses and strengths of the evaluated
text and at the same time enable the exploration of the evaluation process
itself. Examples of non-decisive evaluative acts include the use of ordinal
middle positions ('three out of five stars'), ambivalent reviews that juxtapose
both positive and negative aspects of a work, or the transformative practice of
fan fiction that takes up and reuses selected aspects of source texts while
ignoring others.
Rather fuzzy middle positions open up interesting dimensions of analysis with
uncertainty and ambivalence. Moreover, valuing always means referencing: so
what role do practices of comparison play in non-decisive valuations? In the
digital space, both the expertise of the wreaders and the media conditions of
literary platforms such as Wattpad, Goodreads, and other social media such as
TikTok and YouTube come into focus.
Central here seem to be both the underlying axioms on the level of content,
form, and effect of evaluation and their linguistic expression, as well as
aspects of social action and the mediality of evaluation practices – for
example, the social function of the mostly peer-supported wreaders’ communities
and the digital materiality of the platforms.
Possible topics are:
(comparative) analysis of non-decisive valuation(s) on selected wreading or
reviewing platforms.
(linguistic, semiotic, pictorial, etc.) signs of non- decisive valuation acts
Scales, frames of reference, and manifestations of non- decisive valuation
practices
Non-decisive value practices in historical comparison
Non-decisive value and social value practices in the digital space
Non-decisive valuing as a way of participating in the discourse on literature
The relationship between uncertainty and ambiguity in literary evaluation
Mediality of non-decisive valuation practices in the digital space
Structure of the Special Issue
Special focus is given to studies from the field of Digital Humanities that use
computer-based methods. Contributions can be written in German or English.
The planned publication venue is the Zeitschrift für digitale
Geisteswissenschaften; accepted contributions will be published as a digital
special issue under Open Access conditions and reviewed in Open [Public] Peer
Review (post publication).
Papers may be submitted in the following categories:
Long Papers
Contributions on theoretical and methodological questions as well as critical
debates on epistemological horizons of the described topic complex in the
context of the Digital Humanities.
Present research results or projects in detail and put them up for discussion,
or deal with overarching issues.
Length: 5,000 to 10,000 words
Project Presentations
Present and discuss concrete projects on the topic and place them in the
research context.
Length: 2,000 to 5,000 words
Data Papers
Accompany the publication of research data on the subject complex, which are
published either in the research data repository of the Herzog August
Bibliothek / the MWW or externally (in compliance with the FAIR principles)
Present in detail the underlying questions, collection methods, and potential
horizons of use and their limitations of the research data and place them in
the research context
Length: up to 10,000 words
Please note that with this new (English, more international) call the new
deadline for full papers is 31 AUGUST (please disregard the date on
https://zfdg.de/cfp-sonderband-2023). Please send us your abstract by 18 MAY
(500 words).
Do not hesitate to approach us with any questions.
Very best,
Maria Kraxenberger & Berenike Herrmann
Prof. Dr. Berenike Herrmann
German Literature / Digital Humanities
Bielefeld University
https://jberenike.github.io/
Acting Chair SCC Collections NFDI text+ (National Research Data Infrastructure,
Consortium text+)
Speaker BiLinked CoP Data Literacy
Principal Investigator SNF-Project “High Mountains Low Arousal? Distant Reading
Topographies of Sentiment in German Swiss Novels in the early 20th Century”
Principal Investigator SFB1288 Project “Vergleichspraktiken in der Genese,
Verstetigung und Transformation von ‘Nationalliteratur’. Der Fall
Deutschschweiz”
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