Building Relations and Enhanced Relationality as the Backbone of Methodologies in the Digital and Public Humanities

Abstract

With still no end in sight to the catastrophic conflict in Ukraine, its possible solution hinges on the creation of a new world order, hence pointing at the necessary improvement or, at least, at the development of different international relations: among the traditional East-West divide, as well as between the hyper-industrialised North and the global South. It may seem pretentious that a scholarly enterprise in the Digital and Public Humanities can act upon such superior forces, but in our understanding the contribution of academics working in this field is showing how open participation is a principle leading to a more stable and shared balance, in knowledge building as well as in democratic consent. When we set out to determine this year’s topic, we were indeed convinced that the concept of “Relations” constituted an intrinsic characteristic of Digital and Public Humanities that we should highlight and thematise in a global discourse. Our intention for the present issue was to draw particular attention to the public aspects of research endeavours in this field, given that successful projects hold firm to the principle of audience involvement from their very inception, rather than having public interaction just as a late side-effect of scholarly work. Hence, the present issue focuses on the concept of “Relations” and how they are implemented, operationalised, and analysed as interdependencies, links, and connections in the various practices of Digital and Public Humanities scholarship.