Revisiting the digital humanities through the lens of Indigenous studies—or how to question the cultural blindness of our technologies and practices

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the benefits of putting Indigenous perspectives and the digital humanities (DH) in conversation with each other in order to elaborate a DH approach that is suitable for Indigenous research and to suggest critical perspectives for a more sustainable DH. For this purpose, the article examines practices of data harvesting, categorizing, and sharing from the perspectives of groups in the margin, more specifically in relation to Sámi research. Previous research has emphasized the role of cultural and social contexts in the design, use, and adaptation of technologies in general, and digital technologies in particular (Douglas, 1987. Inventing American broadcasting; Nissenbaum, 2001. Computer, 34, 118–120; Powell & Aitken, 2011. The American literature scholar in the digital age) and several scholars have argued for how the application of critical studies make a fruitful contribution to the DH (Liu, 2012. Debates in the digital humanities; McPherson, 2012. Debates in the digital humanities). This article suggests an approach that addresses a need to acknowledge the diversity of technoscientific traditions. The perspectives of Indigenous groups bring this matter to a head. In order to make the DH more sustainable and inclusive, the development of the DH should be driven by cultural studies to a greater extent than it has been so far. A sustainable DH also means a better rendering of the plurality of the cultural values, perspectives, and ethics that characterize our fieldwork and research subjects.