Session Abstract

The project of recovering lost history and literary texts is foundational to African American and African Diaspora literary and historical scholarship.  One might argue that recovery is a political enterprise that seeks to transform literary canons and historiography by incorporating Black voices and centering an African American and African Diasporic experience.  Moreover, African American and African Diasporic recovery that occurs in the digital humanities where it is often unrecognized as such intervenes in a growing digital canon of Eurocentric scholarship. This roundtable discussion between literary scholars and historians critically conceptualizes and analyzes digital recovery and curation of African American and African Diaspora history and literary history as deeply politicized projects.  Working on four different digital projects, the participants will dialogue and consider the ways that historians and literary scholars of African American and African Diaspora history use technology to make interventions in their respective disciplines.   At the same time, the participants will critically explore how English and history as humanistic disciplines employ diverse and sometimes opposing methodologies that interact with and engage computer science.  Overall, this roundtable discussion seeks to generate conversation among graduate students and scholars concerning the relationship between English and history in the recovery of African American and African Diaspora history and literary history in the digital humanities. 

In December 2014, the roundtable organizer will send roundtable participants a set of questions for discussion.  Select questions include:

How are traditional methodological approaches to history and literary analysis transformed in the digital humanities?

How can we utilize technology to re-recover African American and African Diaspora history and literary history?

What are some challenges in recovering African American and African Diaspora history and literary history in the digital humanities?

What is the overlapping and intersecting terrain in historical and literary methods of recovery?   What are the departures? 

Where do the points of intersection lie between African American and African Disapora digital recovery and public history?