Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 38, No. 108.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2024-08-22 12:28:50+00:00
From: David Berry <D.M.Berry@sussex.ac.uk>
Subject: CfP: Special Issue/Collection on Critical Code Studies and Code Conversations | AI & SOCIETY
AI & SOCIETY
We invite contributions to a Special Issue/Collection on Critical Code Studies,
to be published by AI & Society – the Journal of Culture, Knowledge and
Communication (Springer) https://www.springer.com/journal/146
Summary
We all begin with ‘Hello World!’. The command is the traditional first line of
code written by programming students, and reveals a whole ontology of the
discipline, demonstrating that “code exists not for machines but for humans who
need to communicate with the machine and with other humans” [Mark C. Marino,
Critical Code Studies (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2020)]. The code we
write enables us to interface with the machine, sitting somewhere between human
language and the calculations performed by the computer – common to both but
natural to neither, code is always performing an act of translation.
We take up the idea of the conversation as a means of interrogating the
performative, cultural, and functional nature of code. The discipline of
critical code studies uses close readings of chunks of computer code to think
through the broader phenomena at work behind them: the users, communities,
engineers, teachers, critics, routers, servers, compilers, computers, chargers,
and utility networks. Researchers may find insights in the functionality of the
code itself, the documentation or comments, or datasets enabling usage; the
framework is open to close readings and statistical analysis alike. Conversation
places code into continuous mutual negotiation with these resources and
phenomena; compiling is only the beginning of the process.
At the same time, critical code studies is frustrated by the increased
preponderance of deep neural networks, which abstract code processes further
from what is intelligible through language at the same time as they allow code
itself to appear increasingly conversant. Human critique and understanding,
however, hinges on our ability to read and speak back to code. How do these
conversations falter when language is obstructed, and how can we develop
methodologies to keep understanding obfuscated code?
Special issue themes
* Code comments and collaborations between development teams and users
* Close readings of code that adopt the critical vocabulary of e.g.
literature, anthropology, cultural studies
* Communication between different coding languages, compilers, and hardware
* Translation and collaboration between different historic encoding systems
(e.g. shorthand, cryptography, telegraph codes)
* Incommensurabilities of language between code and critique
* The status and stakes of ‘reading’ and ‘writing’ code as compared to
static texts or purely notational writing (e.g. musical notation)
* The social world of code/code as a social phenomenon
* Code remediations and intermediations (e.g. code poetry, API work)
* Relations of authorship and readership as they apply to code
* Conversation and collaboration as tools for critiquing (as well as
building) code
* The position of the platform in code conversation
* Ways that code is leveraged as political and environmental language
How the special issue relates to current research
Critical Code Studies (CCS) seeks to analyse both the functional operation of
programs and the source code to interpret priorities and significance that may
not be clear through either lens alone. CCS holds that the lines of code of a
program are not value-neutral and can be analysed using the theoretical
approaches applied to other semiotic systems, in addition to particular
interpretive methods developed specifically for the discussions of programs.
CCS builds on longer explorations of software and new media studies, but
formally began as a discipline when Mark Marino published his manifesto on the
form in 2006 [Mark C. Marino, ‘Critical Code Studies’, Electronic Book Review, 4
December 2006, https://electronicbookreview.com/essay/critical-code-studies/].
The University of Southern California hosted the first CCS working group in 2010
and is now home to the Humanities and Critical Code Studies Lab (HaCCS)
[‘About’, accessed 23 July 2024, https://haccslab.com/about/]. Both the group
and HaCCS feature an international roster of associates and participants, which
highlights the centrality of communication to the methodology. CCS as a
discipline requires collaboration and cooperation across expertises; thus, many
of the defining texts in the field are written collaboratively, just as code
often is [Nick Montfort et al., 10 Print CHR#(205.5+RND(1)); : Goto 10,
Illustrated edition (MIT Press, 2014); Jessica Pressman, Mark C. Marino, and
Jeremy Douglass, Reading Project: A Collaborative Analysis of William
Poundstone’s Project for Tachistoscope {Bottomless Pit}, Illustrated edition
(Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2015); Manovich, Lev and Arielli,
Emanuele, Artificial Aesthetics: Generative AI, Art and Visual Media, accessed
27 March 2024, http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/artificial-aesthetics].
Code is not an exclusively technical domain. CCS leverages close reading as a
methodology to explore the functional and textual significance of code and its
interpretations, including to the humans that build and use it. Additionally,
CCS is uniquely poised to explore the nuances of code-based literary works, such
as poetic works developed in code or the world-building mechanics of interactive
fiction [‘Travesty Generator’, accessed 4 October 2023,
https://verse.press/playlist/travesty-generator-1975099943243226060]. CCS seeks
to highlight complexity and the socialisation of code instead of flattening
nuance, even when the code itself resists interpretation.
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) grow in
popularity and resource usage, the availability of legible code to explore them
becomes more important than ever. However, the structures underpinning AI and
LLMs are often considered black boxes, insofar as their data pipelines are not
made visible to users and scholars. CCS includes practices of data reading,
which can be an alternative, but this becomes functionally impossible in the
immense datasets underpinning LLMs. Co-editor David Berry has written
extensively on the ways that attempts at explainability on a tool and
infrastructure level, which prioritises the social and technical practices
informing development even when the code itself is obfuscated, can support
critical engagement with massive models without undermining the core structures
of CCS [David M. Berry, ‘The Explainability Turn’, Digital Humanities Quarterly
017, no. 2 (7 July 2023)]. There are ways forward for the discipline, and they
involve social, digital, electrical, literary, economic, and political analyses.
A host of expertises mandates a host of experts, which is why this call for
papers highlights the centrality of conversation in the discipline.
References
‘About’. Accessed 23 July 2024. https://haccslab.com/about/.
Berry, David M. ‘The Explainability Turn’. Digital Humanities Quarterly 017, no.
2 (7 July 2023).
Manovich, Lev, and Arielli, Emanuele. Artificial Aesthetics: Generative AI, Art
and Visual Media. Accessed 27 March 2024.
http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/artificial-aesthetics.
Marino, Mark C. ‘Critical Code Studies’. Electronic Book Review, 4 December
2006. https://electronicbookreview.com/essay/critical-code-studies
———. Critical Code Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2020.
Montfort, Nick, Patsy Baudoin, John Bell, Ian Bogost, and Jeremy Douglass. 10
Print CHR#(205.5+RND(1)); : Goto 10. Illustrated edition. MIT Press, 2014.
Pressman, Jessica, Mark C. Marino, and Jeremy Douglass. Reading Project: A
Collaborative Analysis of William Poundstone’s Project for Tachistoscope
{Bottomless Pit}. Illustrated edition. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press,
2015.
‘Travesty Generator’. Accessed 4 October 2023.
https://verse.press/playlist/travesty-generator-1975099943243226060.
Guest Editors
Prof David Berry, University of Sussex, UK, d.m.berry@sussex.ac.uk
Claire Carroll, University of Cambridge, UK, cec205@cam.ac.uk
Orla Delaney - Correspondence, University of Cambridge, UK, obd24@cam.ac.uk
Important dates
Abstract submission: 20th December 2024
Manuscript submission: 11th April 2025
Notification: 6th June 2025
Revised papers due: 5th September 2025
Contribution types
All submissions will be evaluated by our editorial team and double-blind peer
reviewed. We welcome contributions in the following formats:
Original papers/Research (max 10k words): substantial papers underpinned by
theoretical, methodological, conceptual, or philosophical foundations. A maximum
of four co-authors.
Open Forum papers (max 8k words): research in progress, ideas paper. Papers may
include strategic ideas, critical reviews, implications of current research, and
works in progress. These papers target a broad audience i.e. academics,
designers as well as the average reader. A maximum of four co-authors.
Book Review (1k words): a review of a contemporary text in the field.
Submission formatting
You can find more information about formatting under the section “Submission
guidelines” https://www.springer.com/journal/146.
For inquiries and to submit your abstract, please contact:
codeasconversation@cdh.cam.ac.uk<mailto:codeasconversation@cdh.cam.ac.uk> with
the subject “AI&S Special issue on CCS”.
Please do submit your manuscript via the 'Submit your manuscript' button
available on https://www.springer.com/journal/146. Abstracts should not be
submitted via this submission button.
https://link.springer.com/journal/146/updates/27488056
________________________________
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
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