Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MAREITA (Mapping Remediation in Italian Literature Beyond the Digital Revolution)
Reporting period: 2018-10-01 to 2020-09-30
The MAREITA project (“Mapping Remediation in Italian Literature Beyond the Digital Revolution”) investigated how, since the advent of computers and information technologies in 1950s, literature had to rethink the status of its very own tool—language—as well as the definition of human creativity. To this end, the MSCA Research Fellow conducted this research combined interdisciplinary critical analyses of literary texts with Social Network Analysis and a quantitative approach to the phenomenon of remediation in literature.
Project’s goals
The first goal of the MAREITA project was to challenge the dominant critical paradigm which sees the digital revolution of the 1990s as an unprecedented turning point in the relationship between literature and electronic media. In fact, issues concerning the process of virtualization stemming from technological progress, have been debated since the dawn of information science in the mid-1950s. The second goal was to question the dominant intellectual approaches which oppose inert literature and all-powerful digital technologies: literature is rarely regarded as a medium capable of competing with the technological actors and, as such, it is not investigated as one of the cultural forces shaping the mediascape.
Social impact
Investigating the culture feeding technological innovation is highly relevant for society at large, well beyond the academic sphere. The heated debate about the political influence of social media, the preoccupations around the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, the repercussions of online platforms on gig economy and workers’ rights, are all pressing issues that cannot be addressed solely from a technological point of view, but rather call for a deeper cultural reflection. One such reflection of reflection writers—and artists in general—have conducted since the dawn of computer culture. Indeed, their artistic works and theoretical reflections on the theme of digital culture are neither dreams and fantasies nor an escapist game. Rather, they should be regarded as valuable contributions and critical explorations of what it means to be human in the age of the algorithm.
Project’s goals
The first goal of the MAREITA project was to challenge the dominant critical paradigm which sees the digital revolution of the 1990s as an unprecedented turning point in the relationship between literature and electronic media. In fact, issues concerning the process of virtualization stemming from technological progress, have been debated since the dawn of information science in the mid-1950s. The second goal was to question the dominant intellectual approaches which oppose inert literature and all-powerful digital technologies: literature is rarely regarded as a medium capable of competing with the technological actors and, as such, it is not investigated as one of the cultural forces shaping the mediascape.
Social impact
Investigating the culture feeding technological innovation is highly relevant for society at large, well beyond the academic sphere. The heated debate about the political influence of social media, the preoccupations around the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, the repercussions of online platforms on gig economy and workers’ rights, are all pressing issues that cannot be addressed solely from a technological point of view, but rather call for a deeper cultural reflection. One such reflection of reflection writers—and artists in general—have conducted since the dawn of computer culture. Indeed, their artistic works and theoretical reflections on the theme of digital culture are neither dreams and fantasies nor an escapist game. Rather, they should be regarded as valuable contributions and critical explorations of what it means to be human in the age of the algorithm.
Three were the main areas in which the project MAREITA has created results: Scholarship (literary criticism and digital humanities), Dissemination and communication, Policy making and societal impact.
1. Scholarship
1.1 Literary criticism
One of the MAREITA project’s main goals was to investigate how the history of literature has always been influenced by technological progress, seen as a transformative cultural power—either threatening destruction, or promising a luminous future—, as a theme inspiring new narrative forms and plots, or as a force influencing the way authors conceive textuality and perform their creative work. Moreover, the purpose was to demonstrate how technological progress has in turn been shaped by literary and artistic production.
In the field of literary criticism, the Fellow has produced the following academic publications (2 books, one published, one in preparation, and 3 articles):
ELEONORA LIMA, Le tecnologie dell’informazione nella scrittura di Italo Calvino e Paolo Volponi, Firenze University Press, 2020.
ELEONORA LIMA, ‘Mechanized Women and Sentient Machines: Language, Gendered Technology and Female Body in Luciano Bianciardi and Tiziano Scarpa’. In Enrica Maria Ferrara (ed) Posthumanism in Italian Literature and Film: Boundaries and Identity. Palgrave, 2020, pp. 163-184.
ELEONORA LIMA, ‘Between Divinity and Dullness: The Advent of Personal Computers in the Italian Literature’, forthcoming in Quaderni d’Italianistica, Vol. 41, no. 1, 2020, 5–42.
ELEONORA LIMA, ‘Technology.’ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory, Oxford University Press (in press, forthcoming in 2021).
ELEONORA LIMA, A Literary History of Computing: Italian Authors Write Computer Culture, in preparation for Legenda, forthcoming 2021.
1.2 Digital Humanities
The MAREITA project combined interdisciplinary critical analyses of literary texts with Social Network Analysis (SNA) and a quantitative approach to the phenomenon of remediation in literature. In order to do so, the Fellow acquired the theoretical and digital skills, necessary to create and analysed the SNA graphs, by attending seminars and dedicated workshops in the field of Digital Humanities.
A publicly accessible website, called Narrating computing was created in order to host the SNA graphs and part of the project’s research findings. The website was conceived with difference audiences in mind and indeed it is an experiment in science communication as it seeks to attract a non-academic audience using an informal and engaging style and avoiding any field-specific jargon.
2. Dissemination and communication
The Fellow was able to generate public engagement through a number of academic conference presentation (3), public talks (2), poster presentation (1), events and exhibitions (2), workshops and summer school (2), and online blog posts and videocasts (3), which were very well received and attracted a considerably wide range of people, including many working in computer science, eager to learn about the culture behind computer technology.
3. Policy making and societal impact
Since May 2019, the Fellow is a member of the Ethically Aligned Design (EAD) for the Arts Committee, a part of the wider IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, which counts over 2,000 volunteers. The EAD Committee is formed of art practitioners and people from academia, industry, and policy from all over the worlds and it engages in policy research and advocacy for an ethical practice and design of Artificial Intelligence in the arts. The committee’s first paper, titled “The Voice of the Artist in the Age of the Algorithm,” is forthcoming in the The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems series.
Questions around transparency regarding personal data, accessibility, fair use and retribution, are at the center of the committee’s discussion and allowed the Fellow to put her academic knowledge at use in contributing to the very pressing and concrete issue of ethics in AI.
1. Scholarship
1.1 Literary criticism
One of the MAREITA project’s main goals was to investigate how the history of literature has always been influenced by technological progress, seen as a transformative cultural power—either threatening destruction, or promising a luminous future—, as a theme inspiring new narrative forms and plots, or as a force influencing the way authors conceive textuality and perform their creative work. Moreover, the purpose was to demonstrate how technological progress has in turn been shaped by literary and artistic production.
In the field of literary criticism, the Fellow has produced the following academic publications (2 books, one published, one in preparation, and 3 articles):
ELEONORA LIMA, Le tecnologie dell’informazione nella scrittura di Italo Calvino e Paolo Volponi, Firenze University Press, 2020.
ELEONORA LIMA, ‘Mechanized Women and Sentient Machines: Language, Gendered Technology and Female Body in Luciano Bianciardi and Tiziano Scarpa’. In Enrica Maria Ferrara (ed) Posthumanism in Italian Literature and Film: Boundaries and Identity. Palgrave, 2020, pp. 163-184.
ELEONORA LIMA, ‘Between Divinity and Dullness: The Advent of Personal Computers in the Italian Literature’, forthcoming in Quaderni d’Italianistica, Vol. 41, no. 1, 2020, 5–42.
ELEONORA LIMA, ‘Technology.’ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory, Oxford University Press (in press, forthcoming in 2021).
ELEONORA LIMA, A Literary History of Computing: Italian Authors Write Computer Culture, in preparation for Legenda, forthcoming 2021.
1.2 Digital Humanities
The MAREITA project combined interdisciplinary critical analyses of literary texts with Social Network Analysis (SNA) and a quantitative approach to the phenomenon of remediation in literature. In order to do so, the Fellow acquired the theoretical and digital skills, necessary to create and analysed the SNA graphs, by attending seminars and dedicated workshops in the field of Digital Humanities.
A publicly accessible website, called Narrating computing was created in order to host the SNA graphs and part of the project’s research findings. The website was conceived with difference audiences in mind and indeed it is an experiment in science communication as it seeks to attract a non-academic audience using an informal and engaging style and avoiding any field-specific jargon.
2. Dissemination and communication
The Fellow was able to generate public engagement through a number of academic conference presentation (3), public talks (2), poster presentation (1), events and exhibitions (2), workshops and summer school (2), and online blog posts and videocasts (3), which were very well received and attracted a considerably wide range of people, including many working in computer science, eager to learn about the culture behind computer technology.
3. Policy making and societal impact
Since May 2019, the Fellow is a member of the Ethically Aligned Design (EAD) for the Arts Committee, a part of the wider IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, which counts over 2,000 volunteers. The EAD Committee is formed of art practitioners and people from academia, industry, and policy from all over the worlds and it engages in policy research and advocacy for an ethical practice and design of Artificial Intelligence in the arts. The committee’s first paper, titled “The Voice of the Artist in the Age of the Algorithm,” is forthcoming in the The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems series.
Questions around transparency regarding personal data, accessibility, fair use and retribution, are at the center of the committee’s discussion and allowed the Fellow to put her academic knowledge at use in contributing to the very pressing and concrete issue of ethics in AI.
The expectations concerning the impact of this project have been exceeded.
The first book stemming from the project, Le tecnologie dell’informazione nella scrittura di Italo Calvino e Paolo Volponi, has been met with great interest by the academic community. Published in March 2020 under Green open access, it has been already downloaded over 500 times, and it was favourably reviewed by Italian newspaper Il Manifesto and in dedicated literary websites.
Moreover, the project has created the opportunity for the Fellow’s research to reach an audience and have an impact well beyond the Italian Studies community. The diverse audience attending her public events, the invitation to contribute to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory, and the invitation to take part to the EAD Committee, are all testament to the broad impact of this project.
In consequence of this and also in light of the growing public interest towards the cultural and ethical aspects of AI systems and digital technologies, the Fellow’s book A Literary History of Computing, currently in preparation, is expected to have a significant impact on the field of Modern Languages and beyond.
The first book stemming from the project, Le tecnologie dell’informazione nella scrittura di Italo Calvino e Paolo Volponi, has been met with great interest by the academic community. Published in March 2020 under Green open access, it has been already downloaded over 500 times, and it was favourably reviewed by Italian newspaper Il Manifesto and in dedicated literary websites.
Moreover, the project has created the opportunity for the Fellow’s research to reach an audience and have an impact well beyond the Italian Studies community. The diverse audience attending her public events, the invitation to contribute to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory, and the invitation to take part to the EAD Committee, are all testament to the broad impact of this project.
In consequence of this and also in light of the growing public interest towards the cultural and ethical aspects of AI systems and digital technologies, the Fellow’s book A Literary History of Computing, currently in preparation, is expected to have a significant impact on the field of Modern Languages and beyond.