Digital Skin II: "Franken-Manuscripts" and "Zombie Books": Digital Manuscript Interfaces and Sensory Engagement
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Information Studies (HATII), Univ. of Glasgow
Organizer Name
Johanna Green
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Glasgow
Presider Name
Diane G. Scott
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Glasgow
Paper Title 1
Zombie Manuscripts: Digital Facsimiles in the Uncanny Valley
Presenter 1 Name
Dorothy Carr Porter
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Paper Title 2
Vibrant Matter: Rethinking Digital Touch and the Materiality of Digital "Skin"
Presenter 2 Name
Johanna Green
Paper Title 3
How Much Is Enough? Sensory Experience and the Digital Manuscript
Presenter 3 Name
Bridget Whearty
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Binghamton Univ.
Paper Title 4
Respondent
Presenter 4 Name
Angela R. Bennett
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Univ. of Nevada-Reno
Start Date
12-5-2018 3:30 PM
Session Location
Schneider 1345
Description
Much early discussion of manuscript digitisation often focused on the sense of 'material loss' in the transition from analogue manuscript to digital page; digital manuscripts were referred to as “surrogates” that provided access at a material cost, and which failed to offer the audience any of the contextual and sensory experiences of encountering the original manuscript. Among the textual distortions oft lamented were the absent sense of weight and size of a codex, the feel of the parchment between the fingers, the play of light over an illuminated initial, the sound or movement of the turning page when a manuscript is transformed by technological intervention from analogue to digital. In a possible attempt to assuage these concerns, a number of digitised manuscript interfaces sought to include sensory media such as ‘turning the pages’ technology, or the “sound” of a folio being turned. However, the artificiality of such media often means that attempts to digitally recreate the experience of interacting with an analogue manuscript in fact creates an experience that is almost entirely unlike that of interacting with the original. These digitised manuscripts, in effect, become “franken-manuscripts” or “zombie books”, brought back to life in ways that, ironically, often serve to further distance the user from the sensory experiences of the original object. As more recent scholarship has argued, when we digitise, we do not replicate; rather, we create an entirely new digital object with its own distinct materiality. Building on the success of three previous Digital Skin sessions across ICMS Kalamazoo in 2016 and Leeds IMC in 2017, this session promotes critical discussion of the evolution of digitised manuscript interfaces and the various (artificial) sensory media they promote. Specifically, the session seeks to examine the efficacy of sensory digital media offered by digitised manuscript interfaces and asks: what happens to a manuscript when we give it new, 'digital skin'?
Johanna Green
Digital Skin II: "Franken-Manuscripts" and "Zombie Books": Digital Manuscript Interfaces and Sensory Engagement
Schneider 1345
Much early discussion of manuscript digitisation often focused on the sense of 'material loss' in the transition from analogue manuscript to digital page; digital manuscripts were referred to as “surrogates” that provided access at a material cost, and which failed to offer the audience any of the contextual and sensory experiences of encountering the original manuscript. Among the textual distortions oft lamented were the absent sense of weight and size of a codex, the feel of the parchment between the fingers, the play of light over an illuminated initial, the sound or movement of the turning page when a manuscript is transformed by technological intervention from analogue to digital. In a possible attempt to assuage these concerns, a number of digitised manuscript interfaces sought to include sensory media such as ‘turning the pages’ technology, or the “sound” of a folio being turned. However, the artificiality of such media often means that attempts to digitally recreate the experience of interacting with an analogue manuscript in fact creates an experience that is almost entirely unlike that of interacting with the original. These digitised manuscripts, in effect, become “franken-manuscripts” or “zombie books”, brought back to life in ways that, ironically, often serve to further distance the user from the sensory experiences of the original object. As more recent scholarship has argued, when we digitise, we do not replicate; rather, we create an entirely new digital object with its own distinct materiality. Building on the success of three previous Digital Skin sessions across ICMS Kalamazoo in 2016 and Leeds IMC in 2017, this session promotes critical discussion of the evolution of digitised manuscript interfaces and the various (artificial) sensory media they promote. Specifically, the session seeks to examine the efficacy of sensory digital media offered by digitised manuscript interfaces and asks: what happens to a manuscript when we give it new, 'digital skin'?
Johanna Green