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Understanding the Narrative Functions of Visualization in Digital Humanities Publications: A Case Study of the Journal of Cultural Analytics

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Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue (iConference 2021)

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Abstract

The use and effects of visual representations in knowledge production have been a charged topic in scientific research. In the field of humanities studies, however, this topic remains under-examined despite the increasing applications of data visualization in the field. This paper aims to understand how visual representations facilitate narrative construction in published articles in the emerging field of digital humanities (DH). Through the methods of content analysis and close reading, we analyzed the narrative functions of visualizations in the argumentation process with a selected sample of research articles published in the Journal of Cultural Analytics from 2017 to 2019. With four observations from the analysis, this study presented a preliminary yet innovative examination of DH’s visual language and proposed suggestions on integrating existing functional frameworks of data visualization with the research contexts of digital humanities.

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Acknowledgements

This research study was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services LEADS-4-NDP (LIS Education and Data Science for the National Digital Platform), Grant: RE-70-17-0094-17.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Rongqian Ma & Daqing He

  2. Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Kai Li

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  1. Rongqian Ma
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  2. Kai Li
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Correspondence to Rongqian Ma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Katharina Toeppe

  2. Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Hui Yan

  3. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Samuel Kai Wah Chu

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Ma, R., Li, K., He, D. (2021). Understanding the Narrative Functions of Visualization in Digital Humanities Publications: A Case Study of the Journal of Cultural Analytics. In: Toeppe, K., Yan, H., Chu, S.K.W. (eds) Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue. iConference 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12645. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71292-1_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71292-1_34

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71291-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71292-1

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