Philologie und Digitalität. Perspektiven für die Musikwissenschaft im Kontext fächerübergreifender Institutionen

Abstract

Currently, the qualitative spectrum of methods in the philological sciences is being substantially expanded, with far-reaching implications, through the integration of the empirical, quantitative, and evaluative possibilities of the Digital Humanities. The example of the planning and establishment of „Kallimachos,“ the Center for Philology and Digitality (ZPD) at the University of Würzburg, demonstrates how a research center in the field of interplay between the humanities and cultural studies, digital humanities, and computer science can bring about a surge of change by providing in-depth insights into each other‘s subjects and ways of thinking. It not only brings with it a new view of the epistemological interests of philology, its questions, its canon, and its key concepts, but also makes computer science aware of the ‚recalcitrance‘ of humanities subjects and thus confronts it with new tasks. The ZPD is the result of a systematic reflection on the digital transformation of philology, with its traditional focus on editing and analyzing, in order to advance this development both in terms of content and methodology. For example, the formation of linguistic conventions in speaking and writing about music in 19th-century composers‘ texts and in music journals would be an ideal subject for the application of digital methods of analysis and the development of new research questions based on them. Research networks that jointly develop and rethink methods on the level of data structures across disciplines are likely to be a proven means of preserving our own discipline in the future, even if this may occasionally be a relationship borne more by reason than by love.