Visualisierung von Textdaten: Die Falle der Metadaten am Beispiel von Iamblichs Protreptikos

Abstract

„Digital Humanities analysieren nicht nur Bilder, sondern produzieren auch neue Bilder“[1] –

this everyday statement illustrates a process the outcome of which is still genuinely uncertain, since these new possibilities of representation are by no means epistemically ensured, let alone that the development in this field had led to stable practices. On the other hand the statement shows an unchallenged triumphal course that has already led to new fields of science such as that of visualization literacy.

This paper examines visualization using metadata. Metadata in particular is of great importance today in the context of the large amounts of data that accumulate as ‘big data’. The aggregations of data necessary for the analysis of big data cannot be performed efficiently without metadata. Beyond normal data collection, metadata reveals patterns that would otherwise not be visible. This, in turn, is made possible by ‘visualization’ as a form of representation – a practice that is customary today: It is especially true for texts that, in practical applications based on their metadata, visualization turns them into images that can be quantitatively evaluated and thus also pass into the research discourse. Starting from this common practice, the question arises whether this current practice meet the current scientific requirements or whether a kind of gold-digger mood and a correspondingly uncritical behavior are not establishing themselves at present – in a time in which data are regarded as the oil or gold of the 21st century.

[1] Kwastek 2015; vgl. Kath et al. 2015.