Close reading-to which humanists are most accustomed-becomes impossible. Opting for the breadth of data we have to give up the richness of details. Working with big data also requires a different kind of modeling. As a way of constructing algorithms, modeling is part and parcel of developing complex computational procedures. 1 Analytical procedures for studying extracted data rest on explicit algorithms for the same reason. Text-mining techniques rely on explicit algorithms because they help tracing mistakes, correcting them and, ultimately, improving results. Namely, one has to be transparent and explicit with regard to how data are extracted and how they are analyzed. However, working with corpora requires a rather different approach that is more characteristic of sciences than humanities. Humanists now have access to huge corpora that open research possibilities that were unthinkable a decade or two ago. The advent of digital humanities has brought the notion of “big data” into the purview of humanistic inquiry. NB: the paper has been presented Digital Humanities and Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI (October 24-25, 2013) the video recording of the presentation is available > Day One (timestamp of the presentation 2:48:00 Q&A: 3:51:30) the entire paper is also available as a PDFĪll models are false, but some are useful
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