More weaving around code and text ideas:
The operations of computational media are created through the interaction of hardware and software. These work according to protocols structured into their organization as code. The study of code is driven by an interest in exposing the ways constraints make certain things possible, and exclude others. But is code a text? If so, what kind of text?
The methods of the Digital Humanities imply a close, attentive reading in order to expose knowledge which could not be obtained directly in text, no matter what kind of text: reading between the lines, so to speak, to unveil world views embedded through formats and protocols, to decipher seamlessly invisible political discourses, or to show the socioeconomic effects resulting from complex computational processes.
The layers of software between the operations of a machine and the instructions given it by an operator offer a fascinating archaeological study, with cultural conventions often holding as much weight as technological advantage.
Scholars such as Mark C. Marino underline the urgency of understanding and studying code which structures environments, and interactions they permit (because code is law).
Humanities and software, two apparently distant worlds, however reunited.