Network, Relation, Flow: Imaginations of Space in Herodotus' History
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Classics Faculty
Abstract
Conceptions and representations of space are currently undergoing a fundamental transformation thanks to the technical possibilities afforded by new forms of multimedia software. This project will employ some of these new technologies in order to foster new insights into the treatment of spatial formations and relationships in Herodotus' History. It will explore different methods of representing geo-spatial data sourced from ancient texts, while interrogating the manner in which Herodotus' chosen medium impacts on the imagination of space in the narrative.
The study of space in antiquity tends to be restricted to archaeological survey or analyses of dramatic performance: little work has been done on the narrativisation of space in literature. This lack of interest is particularly pronounced in the case of Herodotus, despite the fact that space features prominently in his narrative, in terms of both its tracing of Persian expansion, and the author's own investigative journey around the world he writes.
There are at least two other reasons why a study of space is important for thinking about Herodotus' History. First, Herodotus occupies a position on the margins of Greek culture, not only by virtue of coming from Halicarnassus (modern-day Bodrum) on the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, but also because he writes down his narrative: in a world dominated by spoken words in public, Herodotus' text stands ideologically distinct from the media of his broader community, and presents an unprecedented opportunity to explore the difference writing has on the way space is conceived. Second, the manner in which Herodotus puts together his text also allows different possibilities for thinking about space. Recent scholarship has demonstrated the composite nature of his narrative: he includes stories and accounts from a wide variety of sources. Since, notionally at least, these accounts represent the views of a particular individual or group, it should be possible to isolate and evaluate the various notions of space different individuals or groups possess, as well as to consider the ways in which Herodotus ties them together.
Thus, this project will seek to identify, detail and investigate the various ways in which space is represented and conceived in Herodotus' History. Its working hypothesis is that Herodotus presents a notion of space which is experienced rather than abstract; that different groups represented in the text 'imagine' space through different perspectives; and that the Mediterranean world he describes may be characterised in terms of networks, relations and flows rather than any notion of a centre. Proof will derive from two methods. First, a narratological analysis will explore the disjuncture between the primary narration of Herodotus and the character-texts of his individual agents, and assess how space works in context as the narrative unfolds. Second, a geo-referenced database will be compiled to plot Herodotus' spatial co-ordinates on a modern-day map with hyperlinks to the data recorded in the History. The results from both the textual analysis and the geo-database will be used to construct a series of different topological representations of the spaces conceived in the text. This will help crystallise the skein of relational connections between places contained in the text, creating network maps that are radically different from standard, topographical-based maps. By these means Herodotus' world-view will be introduced to a new and wider audience via the internet and a series of publications.
The study of space in antiquity tends to be restricted to archaeological survey or analyses of dramatic performance: little work has been done on the narrativisation of space in literature. This lack of interest is particularly pronounced in the case of Herodotus, despite the fact that space features prominently in his narrative, in terms of both its tracing of Persian expansion, and the author's own investigative journey around the world he writes.
There are at least two other reasons why a study of space is important for thinking about Herodotus' History. First, Herodotus occupies a position on the margins of Greek culture, not only by virtue of coming from Halicarnassus (modern-day Bodrum) on the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, but also because he writes down his narrative: in a world dominated by spoken words in public, Herodotus' text stands ideologically distinct from the media of his broader community, and presents an unprecedented opportunity to explore the difference writing has on the way space is conceived. Second, the manner in which Herodotus puts together his text also allows different possibilities for thinking about space. Recent scholarship has demonstrated the composite nature of his narrative: he includes stories and accounts from a wide variety of sources. Since, notionally at least, these accounts represent the views of a particular individual or group, it should be possible to isolate and evaluate the various notions of space different individuals or groups possess, as well as to consider the ways in which Herodotus ties them together.
Thus, this project will seek to identify, detail and investigate the various ways in which space is represented and conceived in Herodotus' History. Its working hypothesis is that Herodotus presents a notion of space which is experienced rather than abstract; that different groups represented in the text 'imagine' space through different perspectives; and that the Mediterranean world he describes may be characterised in terms of networks, relations and flows rather than any notion of a centre. Proof will derive from two methods. First, a narratological analysis will explore the disjuncture between the primary narration of Herodotus and the character-texts of his individual agents, and assess how space works in context as the narrative unfolds. Second, a geo-referenced database will be compiled to plot Herodotus' spatial co-ordinates on a modern-day map with hyperlinks to the data recorded in the History. The results from both the textual analysis and the geo-database will be used to construct a series of different topological representations of the spaces conceived in the text. This will help crystallise the skein of relational connections between places contained in the text, creating network maps that are radically different from standard, topographical-based maps. By these means Herodotus' world-view will be introduced to a new and wider audience via the internet and a series of publications.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- Heidelberg University (Collaboration)
- Ordnance Survey (Collaboration)
- Freie Universität Berlin (Collaboration)
- Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Collaboration)
- The British Library (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- University of California, Berkeley (Collaboration)
- Tufts University (Collaboration)
- University of Leipzig (Collaboration)
- English Heritage (Collaboration)
- Stanford University (Collaboration)
- German Archaeological Institute (Collaboration)
- Austrian Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON (Collaboration)
- KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
Publications
Elton Barker (Author)
(2013)
Digital Classicist Supplement: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies
Elton TE Barker
(2013)
The Ideologies of Lived Space in Literary Texts
Elton TE Barker
(2010)
Mapping an ancient historian in a digital age: the Herodotus Encoded Space-Text-Image Archive
in Leeds International Classical Studies
Elton TE Barker
(2011)
Colloquium: Digital technologies: Help or hindrance for the humanities?
in Arts and Humanities in Higher Education
Elton TE Barker
(2013)
Classics in the Modern World: A Democratic Turn?
Heirman J
(2013)
The Ideologies of Lived Space in Literary Texts, Ancient and Modern
PELLING C
(2011)
HERODOTUS AND SAMOS
in Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies
Description | Involving a team of researchers from Classics, Geography and Computing, Hestia analyses spatial data embedded in Herodotus's Histories in order to reconstruct the geography of a literary narrative. Challenging the usual abstract Cartesian mapping of the ancient world, Hestia draws attention to the connections between places underpinning Herodotus's narrative. The results eschew schematic spatial distinctions in favour of conceptual model based on networks and flow. |
Exploitation Route | Hestia's experimental use of new technologies to visualise and analyse geospatial data in a narrative may be of use for the wider community (public agencies, high-tech industries and educationalists) interested in data visualisation, especially of geospatial concepts, and the challenge of making sense of 'messy data'. |
Sectors | Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Environment Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
URL | http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/hestia/ |
Description | Tools and methods that we have developed have led to a collaboration with Google (http://googleancientplaces.wordpress.com/) and have been used in classrooms both at university (http://hestia.open.ac.uk/reading-herodotus-spatially-in-the-undergraduate-classroom-part-i/) and at school (http://hestia.open.ac.uk/hestia-meets-a-virginia-us-high-school-latin-class-part-i/). Key intellectual outcomes have also contributed to policy discussion by various international bodies, including The Scholarly Communications and Information Technology (SCIT) Program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the workgroup on Information Visualisation in the Digital Humanities for the European Science Foundation-funded Network for Digital Methods in the Arts and Humanities, and the workgroup on Research Communities and Research Infrastructures in the Humanities, European Science Foundation Standing Committee for the Humanities. |
First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Follow on funding (Hestia 2: Reading Texts Spatially) |
Amount | £64,084 (GBP) |
Funding ID | AH/K007025/1 |
Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2013 |
End | 06/2014 |
Description | Geospatial Engagement and Community Outreach programme (Pelagios) |
Amount | £44,006 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Geospatial Engagement and Community Outreach programme |
Organisation | Jisc |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2011 |
End | 11/2011 |
Description | Google Digital Humanities Research Grant (Google Ancient Places phase 2) |
Amount | £30,988 (GBP) |
Organisation | |
Sector | Private |
Country | United States |
Start | 01/2012 |
End | 04/2014 |
Description | Google Digital Humanities Research Grant (Google Ancient Places) |
Amount | £21,689 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Google Digital Humanities Award |
Organisation | |
Sector | Private |
Country | United States |
Start | 09/2010 |
End | 12/2011 |
Description | Resource and Discovery programme (Pelagios phase 2) |
Amount | £153,496 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Resource and Discovery programme |
Organisation | Jisc |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2011 |
End | 07/2012 |
Description | Scholarly Communications and Information Technology (Pelagios 3: Early Geospatial Documents) |
Amount | £311,352 (GBP) |
Organisation | Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
Sector | Private |
Country | United States |
Start | 08/2013 |
End | 08/2015 |
Title | A database has been compiled from the digital text of Herodotus |
Description | A database of place names in the Histories of Herodotus, openly available online here: http://hestia.open.ac.uk/database/data_view.php?ftr_mode=standard&retftrset=4 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The database is part of a suite of open educational resources openly available here: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/classical-studies/herodotus-the-histories |
URL | http://hestia.open.ac.uk/database/data_view.php?ftr_mode=standard&retftrset=4 |
Title | The Perseus digital text of Herodotus was converted from TEI P4 to P5 and was subject to intense data cleaning |
Description | The text of the Histories of Herodotus has had all place names annotated |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The text is part of a suite of open educational resources available here: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/classical-studies/herodotus-the-histories |
URL | http://www2.open.ac.uk/openlearn/hestia/index.html#index |
Description | Collaboration with Connected Past group |
Organisation | University of Southampton |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing network analysis methods for qualitative research in the humanities, social sciences and other groups (including local government and cultural heritage institutions). |
Collaborator Contribution | Hosted a one-day workshop and invited speakers from a range of US, Europe and UK universities, as well as representatives from local government, English Heritage and Ordnance Survey. |
Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary: Classical Studies, Archaeology, History, Geography, Data Science. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Collaboration with Stanford Literary Lab |
Organisation | Stanford University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing methods of data visualisation and analysis for research in the humanities, social sciences, and the digital economy. |
Collaborator Contribution | Organised a two-day workshop working with humanities and social science groups, with invited contributions from the digital economy and information services. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary with contributions from Classical Studies, English, History, Geography, Archaeology, Digital Humanities, Library studies, Data Science. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Google Ancient Places |
Organisation | University of California, Berkeley |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing an automated means of discovery places in texts and then visualizing them in a single-page application. |
Collaborator Contribution | Helped to develop the means of extracting place name data from texts and of visualising the results in a single-screen interface. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from Classical Studies, Archaeology, Informatics and Design. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | Google Ancient Places |
Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
Department | School of Informatics Edinburgh |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing an automated means of discovery places in texts and then visualizing them in a single-page application. |
Collaborator Contribution | Helped to develop the means of extracting place name data from texts and of visualising the results in a single-screen interface. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from Classical Studies, Archaeology, Informatics and Design. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | Google Ancient Places |
Organisation | University of Southampton |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing an automated means of discovery places in texts and then visualizing them in a single-page application. |
Collaborator Contribution | Helped to develop the means of extracting place name data from texts and of visualising the results in a single-screen interface. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from Classical Studies, Archaeology, Informatics and Design. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Austrian Institute of Technology |
Country | Austria |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | English Heritage |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Free University of Berlin |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | German Archaeological Institute |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Heidelberg University |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | King's College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for the History of Science |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Ordnance Survey |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | The British Library |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | Tufts University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | University of Leipzig |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Pelagios |
Organisation | University of Southampton |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Providing guidelines and schema for annotating, cataloguing and visualizing references to ancient places, and assisting people working with ancient world data to make their resources more discoverable, accessible and usable to other researchers and the general public. |
Collaborator Contribution | Revising their data standards and formats to join our infrastructure network. |
Impact | This collaboration is multi-disciplinary, with contributions from all humanities disciplines, geography, data science, technology. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | A workshop on approaches to the geospatial analysis of documents and artefacts |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
Results and Impact | This workshop explored the potential of innovative spatial networks and linked data techniques for research and work in the higher education, public and cultural heritage sectors, and facilitated knowledge exchange among the participants, including representatives from different disciplines (classics, geography, computer science), local government and other organisations (such as Ordnance Survey). The workshop was recorded and has led to a number of enquiries about the use of network analysis and linked open data. A number of the participants reported a change in view and expressed interest in further collaboration of this kind. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://hestia.open.ac.uk/a-seminar-on-approaches-to-geospatial-analysis/ |
Description | Data Visualisation in the Humanities, workshop for the AHRC-funded CHASE consortium's 'Going Digital' project |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
Results and Impact | The workshop provided examples of data visualisation and gave a critique of their use, particularly in the Humanities. It sparked a lot of debate and enabled the participants to try out different visualisation techniques for themselves. A number of the attendees provided follow-up communications and changed the way that they were thinking of using data visualisation in their PhD studies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Telling stories with maps: a workshop on the geoweb, qualitative GIS and narrative mapping |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
Results and Impact | This one-day workshop, which explored the intersection of GIS technologies and qualitative data, provided an opportunity for knowledge exchange between different disciplines, such as: geography, Classics, law, English literature, Japanese literature, sociology. Since the workshop many participants have expressed how they have changed their working practice and adopted new technologies for their studies. See for example one participant's response on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=245859704390&v=wall&story_fbid=10152460823249391), a summary of the twitter feed on storify (https://storify.com/moacir/telling-stories-with-maps), and the project's youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wupYMc_xZkTn_Czy34BJQ). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://hestia.open.ac.uk/telling-stories-with-maps/ |