An Illusion of Progress? On the Philosophical Sense of the Digotal Turn in the Humanities

Natalia STENCEL

Katedra Historii Literatury Polskiej XX Wieku, Wydział Polonistyki, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, ul. Gołębia 16-18, 30-007 Cracow, Poland , Poland

Abstract

The article comprises a description of the phenomenon of the so-called digital turn in the humanities in the context of the paradigm of the humanities and with reference to the meaning of the notion of progress in various research fields. The context for the author’s critical remarks on the digital turn in the humanities is provided by the ideas present in works of Hans G. Gadamer, Wilhelm Dilthey, Thomas Kuhn, and Leszek Kołakowski, who discussed the problems of the status and the nature of the humanities and defined the specific tasks the humanities should pursue. The author investigates the concept of ‘digitalization’ in its possible application to the humanities, as well as the issue of what determines the ‘digital’ nature of research in the case of the humanities. In the light of the author’s considerations, the project of the digital turn in the humanities has appeared as a result of the claim, resulting from the hegemony of science, that any type of research needs to produce objectively verified results, thus following the paradigm of an all-embracing research harmony.

‘Digitalization’ of the humanities is also described in the context of the consequences of tendencies such as automation of the process of interpretation and text ‘dethronement’ for the sake of image ‘enthronement.’ The key issue remains the understanding of the concept of progress in the context of the paradigm of the humanities.

Translated by Dorota Chabrajska

Keywords:

illusion of progress, paradigm, digital humanities