Digital Humanities as Anamorphosis

This article theorizes the digital humanities (DH) as a speculative art via a media history of anamorphosis. Anamorphosis, an art technique that warps linear perspective, captures the work of DH because it collocates technical apparatus, scientific examination, and artistic endeavor. The workings of anamorphosis show that repetition and retrospection are necessary procedures for DH. Considering DH from the skewed perspective of anamorphosis allows us to recast DH, situating it within a media history that stretches back into the Middle Ages.