数字人文的学科定位与历史演进

第1章：数字人文的学科定位与历史演进

当代学术版图中，数字人文（Digital Humanities，简称DH）已从一个边缘性的方法论尝试演变为一股不可忽视的制度性力量。这一演变不仅体现了技术与人文学科之间日益深化的互动关系，更折射出知识生产方式的深层变革。本章旨在系统梳理数字人文作为跨学科领域的形成过程与发展脉络，通过回溯从人文计算（Humanities Computing）到数字人文的概念演变，剖析这一术语转变背后的范式转换意义；继而考察该领域在北美、欧洲和亚洲不同学术语境中的发展轨迹，分析其制度化进程中的关键节点；最终为读者提供一个理解数字人文学科定位的宏观框架。

The contemporary academic landscape bears witness to the remarkable transformation of Digital Humanities (DH) from a marginal methodological experiment into an indispensable institutional force. This evolution not only reflects the deepening interaction between technology and the humanities but also illuminates fundamental changes in the ways knowledge is produced. This chapter aims to systematically trace the formation and development of Digital Humanities as an interdisciplinary field, examining the conceptual evolution from "Humanities Computing" to "Digital Humanities" and analyzing the paradigmatic shifts embedded within this terminological transformation. Furthermore, it investigates the developmental trajectories of this field across different academic contexts in North America, Europe, and Asia, scrutinizing the key nodes of its institutionalization process. Ultimately, this chapter endeavors to provide readers with a macro-framework for understanding the disciplinary positioning of Digital Humanities within the contemporary academic map.

一、从人文计算到数字人文：概念演变与范式转换

理解数字人文的当代形态，首先需要追溯其概念演变的历史轨迹。这一演变并非简单的术语替换，而是反映了人文学者与计算机技术互动关系的深刻重组。从“人文计算”到“数字人文”的概念迁移，蕴含着对技术角色、技术与人文关系认知的重大转变，同时也标志着这一领域在学术场域中身份认同的重新建构。

Understanding the contemporary form of Digital Humanities necessitates tracing the historical trajectory of its conceptual evolution. This evolution represents far more than a mere substitution of terminology; it reflects a profound restructuring of the relationship between humanities scholars and computing technology. The conceptual migration from "Humanities Computing" to "Digital Humanities" encapsulates significant transformations in how the role of technology is understood and how the relationship between technology and the humanities is conceptualized. Simultaneously, it marks a reconstruction of this field's identity within the academic arena.

1.1 人文计算的起源与内涵

人文计算（Humanities Computing）作为一个学术术语，其使用可以追溯至20世纪中叶。1949年，意大利神父罗伯特·布萨（Roberto Busa）与IBM合作，开始对托马斯·阿奎那（Thomas Aquinas）著作及相关文献进行机读索引编制，这一项目被视为人文计算的开创性实践。布萨的工作不仅具有技术创新的意义，更重要的是，它确立了人文学者与技术专家合作的基本范式：人文学者提出学术问题，技术专家提供计算解决方案，而最终的知识产出仍由人文学者主导诠释。

Humanities Computing as an academic term can be traced to the mid-twentieth century. In 1949, the Italian priest Roberto Busa collaborated with IBM to create machine-readable indexes of the works of Thomas Aquinas and related texts—an endeavor widely regarded as the pioneering practice of humanities computing. Busa's work was not merely technologically innovative; more significantly, it established the fundamental paradigm for collaboration between humanities scholars and technical experts: humanities scholars pose academic questions, technical experts provide computational solutions, and the ultimate interpretive authority remains with the humanities scholars.

这一时期的人文计算具有鲜明的特征。首先，它将计算机主要视为一种辅助工具，用于处理大规模文本数据，实现索引编制、词频统计、 concordance 生成等重复性工作。其次，计算活动往往被边缘化为人文学科的“侍女”，服务于传统人文学科的研究目标，而非构成独立的研究领域。再次，参与者以语言学家、文献学家、历史学家等人文学者为主，计算机专家通常扮演技术支持的角色。1973年，朱塞佩·比亚吉（Giuseppe Bilotti）创办的《 Literary and Linguistic Computing》杂志（后更名为《Literary and Linguistic Computing》，今为《Digital Scholarship in the Humanities》）标志着这一领域开始获得初步的制度性认可。

Humanities Computing during this period was characterized by several distinctive features. First and foremost, computers were primarily conceived as auxiliary tools for processing large-scale textual data—performing repetitive tasks such as indexing, word frequency analysis, and concordance generation. Second, computational activities were frequently marginalized as handmaidens to traditional humanities research objectives, serving established disciplinary goals rather than constituting an independent field of inquiry. Third, participants were predominantly humanities scholars—linguists, philologists, historians—while computer specialists typically occupied supporting technical roles. The establishment of the journal *Literary and Linguistic Computing* by Giuseppe Bilotti in 1973 (later renamed *Digital Scholarship in the Humanities*) signaled the initial institutional recognition of this domain.

1980年代至1990年代，人文计算经历了重要的扩展。语料库语言学的兴起、文本编码标准（如SGML、TEI）的建立、以及计算机辅助文献学研究的发展，共同推动了这一领域的专业化进程。1990年美国启动的人文学科超级计算计划（Humanities Supercomputing Initiative），以及随后建立的多个地区性人文计算中心，为人文学者提供了更为系统的技术支持。这一时期，人文计算逐渐从个体学者的自发尝试演变为有组织的学术活动。

The 1980s and 1990s witnessed significant expansion in Humanities Computing. The rise of corpus linguistics, the development of text encoding standards (such as SGML and TEI), and the advancement of computer-assisted philological research collectively propelled the professionalization of this field. The Humanities Supercomputing Initiative launched in the United States in 1990, followed by the establishment of regional humanities computing centers, provided more systematic technical support for humanities scholars. During this period, Humanities Computing gradually evolved from individual scholars' spontaneous experiments into organized scholarly activity.

1.2 “数字人文”概念的兴起

进入21世纪，“数字人文”（Digital Humanities）这一术语逐渐取代“人文计算”成为主导性表述。关于这一术语的确切起源，学界存在不同看法。一种被广泛引用的观点认为，伊利诺伊大学香槟分校的伯纳德·d·肯恩（Bernard D. K. May）和同事在2004年首次使用了“数字人文中心”（Center for Digital Humanities）的机构名称。另一说则追溯至2004年创建的《数字人文季刊》（*Digital Humanities Quarterly*）和2005年成立的数字人文组织联盟（Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, ADHO）。然而，更早的使用案例同样存在——据学者考证，该术语在1990年代中期的学术文献中已有出现。

As the twenty-first century dawned, the term "Digital Humanities" gradually supplanted "Humanities Computing" as the dominant designation. Scholarly consensus on the precise origin of this terminology remains elusive. One widely cited perspective attributes the first institutional use of "Digital Humanities" to Bernard D. K. May and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who established the "Center for Digital Humanities" in 2004. An alternative account traces it to the *Digital Humanities Quarterly* established in 2004 and the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) founded in 2005. Nevertheless, earlier usages have been documented—scholars have identified appearances of this term in academic literature as early as the mid-1990s.

无论确切的起源时间如何，“数字人文”概念的兴起反映了该领域的多重转变。从语义层面分析，“数字”（digital）与“计算”（computing）虽然都指向与技术相关的活动，但二者的内涵存在微妙而重要的差异。“计算”强调的是过程性、操作性的面向，将计算机主要视为执行特定任务的工具；“数字”则强调的是表示方式、存在形态的转型，暗示技术已渗透至知识表示、传播乃至本质的层面。因此，从“人文计算”到“数字人文”的转变，可以被解读为对技术与人文关系认知的深化——技术不再仅仅是服务于人文研究的工具，而是正在重塑人文知识的存在方式本身。

Regardless of the precise origin, the rise of "Digital Humanities" reflects multiple transformations within the field. At the semantic level, while both "digital" and "computing" point to technology-related activities, the connotations of these terms differ subtly yet significantly. "Computing" emphasizes processual and operational dimensions, treating the computer primarily as a tool for executing specific tasks. "Digital," conversely, foregrounds representational modes and existential transformations, suggesting that technology has permeated the very fabric of knowledge representation, dissemination, and indeed its essential nature. Thus, the shift from "Humanities Computing" to "Digital Humanities" can be interpreted as a deepening recognition of the relationship between technology and the humanities—technology is no longer merely a tool serving humanistic inquiry but is actively reshaping the very modes of existence of humanistic knowledge.

这一概念转变还伴随着研究对象的扩展。传统人文计算主要聚焦于文本处理，而数字人文则将研究范围拓展至图像、音频、视频、三维建模、地理信息系统（GIS）、虚拟现实等多种模态的数据形式。2010年代以来，数字人文项目日益关注数据的可视化呈现、交互式探索、以及公众参与式的人文研究（如“公众人文”crowd-sourcing initiatives），这些都远远超出了传统人文计算的边界。

This conceptual transition also accompanied an expansion in research objects. Traditional Humanities Computing focused primarily on text processing, whereas Digit