Digital Culture & Society (Web), Issue 1/2021 edited by: Anna Dahlgren, Karin Hansson, Rámon Reichert and Amanda Wasielewski

Proposals by: 28.06.2020

This special issue of the Digital Culture & Society journal invites theoretical and methodological contributions discussing the politics of metadata. The transformation of image collections from files and boxes to digital interfaces has had implications for the way images are annotated and ordered. In particular, new issues arise in relation to the practices of and policies for creating descriptive metadata. The first generation of digitization in the 1990s sparked a lively debate around images and their credibility, which played out in the news media, political circles, and in relation to history writing (Mitchell, 1994; Ritchin, 1990). Despite the fact that photographic manipulation is as old as the medium itself, the ease and availability of software that allowed consumers to „photoshop“ images on their personal computers ushered in an era of digital distrust.

Yet, as pointed out by Rubinstein and Sluis, „In the past, concerns about manipulation of pixels caused people to doubt the veracity of the digital image; however, manipulation of metadata can have much more dramatic and far-reaching consequences and they indicate that the construction and design of metadata inflicts archiving and classification practices yet also the conditions of use“ (Rubinstein and Sluis, 2013). In other words, while many people worry about the consequences of digital image manipulation, the data we collect on our data, which is used to order and recall a vast array of digital material, can also be subject to biases and manipulations that are just as insidious and often more difficult to detect.

 The design and use of metadata is therefore always culturally, socially and ideologically inflected (Baylis, 2014; Bunnik et al., 2016; Loukissas, 2017; Pollen, 2016). Indeed all metadata situate the images they furnish historically, geographically, politically and organizationally. The actors and their agendas and interest, whether these are institutions (museums, archives, libraries, corporate image suppliers) or individuals (image producers, social media agents, researchers) affect the character of metadata (Schwartz, 1995; Schwartz and Cook, 2002). If, for example, nationality is an important founding rationale for a museum their images will be Continue reading →

Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung (ZZF) Potsdam (Web)

Ort: Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, Potsdam
Zeit: 10.-11.12.2020
Einreichfrist: 15.06.2020

Die Geschichte des 20. Jhds. ist durch immense politische und gesellschaftliche Umwälzungen gekennzeichnet, die Historiker/innen meist mit Textquellen oder öffentlich zirkulierenden Bildern erschließen. Kaum berücksichtigt wird, dass die meisten Menschen ihren Blick auf ihre Gegenwart und Vergangenheit durch private visuelle Quellen konstruieren. Während Tagebücher und Briefe eher seltene Zeugnisse bilden, die vor allem im Bürgertum überliefert sind, sind private Fotos und Filme aus dem 20. Jhd. ubiquitär verfügbar. Doch obgleich die meisten Familien über Zäsuren hinweg ihre Sicht auf die Welt durch private Fotos und Filme dokumentierten und erinnerten, sind sie bisher wissenschaftlich kaum erschlossen. Dabei versprechen sie eine andere Sichtweise auf das 20. Jhd.

Indem die privaten Kameras unterschiedliche unbekannte Akteur/innen, Handlungen, Ereignisse und Orte sicht- und unsichtbar machten, waren sie aktiv involviert in die Konstruktion dessen, was als „Realität“, als „Familie“ oder als „Privatsphäre“ wahrgenommen wurde und erinnert wird. Neutrale Dokumentationsinstrumente sind Fotografie und Schmalfilm nicht. Die privaten Bildpraktiken konnten sich zwar selbst in den Diktaturen weitgehend politischer Kontrolle entziehen, sind aber deutlich durch soziale Konventionen gekennzeichnet. Gerade dies macht sie zu einer wichtigen Quelle für eine Alltagsgeschichte des 20. Jhds.

Die Tagung untersucht mit einer vergleichenden Perspektive diese (Bewegt-)Bildmedien im Alltag. Denn gerade private Bildquellen mit ihren gängigen Motiven von Häuslichkeit, Familie, Reisen und Vergnügen bieten Historiker/innen Werkzeuge, um Bild- und Blickkulturen in unterschiedlichen Gesellschaften und politischen Systemen zu analysieren. Zentrale Fragen unserer … weiterlesen und Quellle (Web).

Branch Office Vilnius of the German Historical Institute Warsaw – Außenstelle Vilnius des DHI Warschau, Vilnius, Litauen (Web)

Venue: Vilnius, Litauen
Time: 20.-21.01.2021
Proposals by: 30.06.2020

The notion of childhood is a socio-historical construction, as it is might be seen differently not only in various cultures but also experienced differently within the same society. Even the definition of who is a child has changed over time, revealing fluctuations of childhood periodization. Therefore, the understanding of childhood is always in the process and its notion might be constantly shifting. French historian Philippe Ariès designated the birth of modern conception of childhood in Western countries in the long eighteenth century, even though he was criticized for overseeing many sources revealing the perceptions of childhood in medieval society.

In this period, children commenced to be separated from the adults and were gradually turned into the objects of new state policies. Nevertheless, it was only in the nineteenth century when childhood became universalized and was inscribed as an important element in the development of nation states and their future. Consequently, children had to be socialized not only within the context of their families and communities, but they had likewise to become part of a national narrative.

Nonetheless, the majority of scholarly research related to the childhood and its history in this period focuses on Western European countries, while the childhood and children experiences in Central and Eastern Europe remain a largely underinvestigated topic. To better illuminate this issue, this conference aims to assemble scholars, who work on the history of childhood in Central and Eastern Europe, to present their current research findings in this field. Read more and source … (Web).