In the sciences, digital modes of publication are already regarded as equivalent (if not superior) to their printed analogues, whereas in the humanities, hard-copies still count as the silver... Show moreIn the sciences, digital modes of publication are already regarded as equivalent (if not superior) to their printed analogues, whereas in the humanities, hard-copies still count as the silver bullet to aggrandise symbolic capital in the sense of Bourdieu. While the scientist community seems to have overcome the general scepticism towards the digital realm, humanist academics especially in Germany appear more reluctant to fully embrace the new technologies. Apart from just ‘publishing’ texts in a strict sense, social media, blogs and platforms also hold a lot of catalyst potential especially regarding reflective communication, which is barely made use of due to the stigma of poor quality. The printed book, on the other hand, remains among the indispensable criteria to gain a tenured position. “Researching” and “writing (documenting the results)“ appear as separate stages in the sciences, but are closely interlocked in the humanities – so the geneses of texts may indeed differ to a degree rendering those processes incomparable. But even though it may sound like comparing apples and oranges, it reveals the crux of the matter: The practices of the disciplines have grown historically. We wish to emphasize that some elements of today’s scholarly practice are not so much the best possible solution to meet the needs of academic discourse, but rather atavisms, once established as compromises between what was needed and what was technically possible. Thus, they need to be carefully reassessed in order to eliminate inhibitions, p. e. those rooting in the specific limitations inherent to the printed book as a static, unidirectional medium. Quite possibly, a closer look at the situation in Germany might reveal the authority of the printed book as overrated and in fact hindering rather than advancing knowledge and scholarly discourse. Show less
