Other Worlds, Other DHs: Notes towards a DH Accent

Abstract

As digital humanities (DH) continues to embrace its global dimensions, community members struggle to ascertain frames of reference for understanding and interpreting local contexts for scholarship. This article intervenes in that effort by distinguishing between the local and global contours of DH. It analyzes two projects that map the geographies of DH and identifies the challenge of recognizing DH work. Drawing on postcolonial and linguistic theories of language, this article then proposes that the concept of a ‘DH accent’ provides a lens for mediating between local and global definitions of DH and resolving the ethical challenge of misrecognition. In seeking a global vision, the article suggests, the DH community must begin with the question, ‘What is your DH accent?’