The Chronicle of Higher Education features an article this week on literary scholarship that is using technology to investigate new questions with texts that are available online. New tools, such as Google Earth, are allowing professors to map and sort textual information in new ways and extend the scholarly process into the classroom.
The article takes an in-depth look at an online project, the Map of Early London, edited by Janelle Jenstad, an assistant professor of English at the University of Victoria. The map, using John Stow’s 1598 work A Survey of London, overlays place information contained in literary works produced during the era. Users at the site can explore proxmity of authors to places mentioned in works, the cultural life of different parts of the city mentioned in literature, people mentioned in connection with specific places, and many other geographic aspects of the texts.
The Chronicle has assembled an audio slide show tour of the Map as part of the article.
Wow, it is really amazing to see what can be done with modern technology these days. We are able to recreate the past with amazing detail and accuracy.