In my talk I would like to explore the points of interconnection that have arisen in recent years between Modern Languages and the digital broadly conceived, this latter encompassing digital humanities, digital culture, digital pedagogy, and many more. Starting from an overview of recent developments in Modern Languages research that have engaged with the digital, I subsequently set out the crucial contributions that Modern Linguists can make to debates in Digital Humanities and Digital Culture Studies. I highlight in particular the insights that Modern Linguists can offer regarding co-creation; a commitment to community engagement; a contestation of Anglophone models; and a linguistically- and culturally-specific cultural studies approach to digital materials. In this way, the talk argues, Modern Languages scholarship on the digital can be part of the productive dialogue between humanities-based approaches and cultural studies-based approaches that currently characterises debates in Digital Humanities and Digital Culture studies alike, and can contribute to the shape of these fields.

The seminar will be followed by a wine reception. Please register your attendance in advance. 

Claire Taylor is Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Liverpool and leads the Digital Latin American Cultures Network with Thea Pitman and Tori Holmes.   

This series is part of the AHRC-funded Open World Research Initiative, and is supported by OWRI projects Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community and Language Acts and Worldmaking projects, and by the AHRC Leadership Fellow for Modern Languages (Janice Carruthers). The series is convened by Paul Spence (King’s College London) and Naomi Wells (Institute of Modern Languages Research).