Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 38, No. 326.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
[1] From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
Subject: Correction to Humanist 38.325: pubs: historical software reconstruction (52)
[2] From: Adrian <y@thgie.ch>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 38.325: pubs: historical software reconstruction (54)
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2025-01-17 08:48:22+00:00
From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
Subject: Correction to Humanist 38.325: pubs: historical software reconstruction
[The following corrected version suffered a fracture in the URL
of the original. Apologies on behalf of the software. --WM
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 38, No. 325.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
www.dhhumanist.org
Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2025-01-15 11:14:12+00:00
From: David Berry <D.M.Berry@sussex.ac.uk>
Subject: Digital Ruins and Critical Code Studies: Towards an
Ethics of Historical Software Reconstruction
I thought this short article might be interesting to those working or
thinking about software preservation. I would very much like to hear
from those working in digital, book or art preservation who might
use other analogies useful for thinking about software.
Digital Ruins and Critical Code Studies: Towards an Ethics of Historical
Software Reconstruction
"The reconstruction of historical software presents unique challenges
that lie at the intersection of technical preservation, historical
interpretation, and ethical practice. This article argues that the field
of critical code studies needs to consider helping to develop new
frameworks for software reconstruction that balance functional recovery
with historical accuracy – frameworks that, I argue, can learn valuable
lessons from architectural preservation practices. While the restoration
of buildings and the reconstruction of code may seem very different,
both grapple with fundamental questions about authenticity,
interpretation, and the ethical practices of reconstruction."
https://stunlaw.blogspot.com/2025/01/digital-ruins-and-critical-code-studies.html
Best
David
________________________________
David M. Berry
Professor of Digital Humanities
School of Media, Arts and Humanities
University of Sussex
Silverstone 316
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 8PP
T: +44(0)1273 87557
Internal Extension: 7557
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/125219
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2025-01-16 08:11:58+00:00
From: Adrian <y@thgie.ch>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 38.325: pubs: historical software reconstruction
Good morning
Having enjoyed The Philosophy of Software tremendously, I'm looking
forward to reading this. In my research, I'm at the intersection of
critical code and video game studies, and I'm looking at works from the
1980s and -90s. So preservation and reconstruction is an obvious aspect
to tackle, if I want to or not.
I'm certain you know some of John Aycock's work and his interests in
archaeologists' thought and approaches. Regarding ethics I found
Nooney's call to action on how we reconstruct such histories
(https://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/nooney) quite appealing.
/"So while my curiosity in locating histories of women and gaming
requires a media archaeology of sorts -- only a refusal of teleology
can properly hack the timeline -- this must be done with a critical
care toward what media archaeology so often ignores: human
specificity, the way enactments of power fall upon certain types of
bodies more than others." (Noony, 2013)
/
It's in line with Donna Haraway's /Situated Knowledges/
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/3178066). And, in that regard, Aycock did
some interesting work in reconstructing the production of Mystery House,
a text adventure from 1980
(https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/view/17513).
Authenticity is a difficult concept in video game studies of older
games. The discourse is additionally loaded because historical material
can be the content of a game (upsetting histories), and there is a very
active amateur-community invested in the preservation, for archives and
for use (upset by historians). I found Dany Guay-Bélanger's /Assembling
Auras/ (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15554120211020381)
a hot take on the topic but thought-provoking.
More exchange could surely be found at the /Born-Digital Collections,
Archives and Memory/ conference in London this April
(https://www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/born-digital-collections-archives-
memory-0).
Kind wishes
Hochschule der Künste Bern / Haute Ecole des arts de Bern
Forschung / Recherche
Adrian Demleitner
Doktorand / Doctorant
Fellerstrasse 11, CH - 3027 Bern
adrian.demleitner@hkb.bfh.ch
www.hkb.bfh.ch/de/forschung <https://www.hkb.bfh.ch/de/forschung>
Ein Departement der Berner Fachhochschule
Un département de la Haute Ecole spécialisée bernoise
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