Practise what you preach: Engaging in humanities research through critical praxis

This article explores how a cultural studies perspective can be used to criticallyanalyse practices of conducting research within the (Digital) Humanities. It usesamongst others the example of the author’s PhD dissertation currently in process,which is set up as a theoretical and practical intervention into existing discoursessurrounding the dominant form of formal communication within the Humanities: thescholarly monograph. A methodology of critical praxis is seen as an integral part ofthe research project as well as an important step in developing academic or researchliteracy through actively engaging in the production of communicative norms andpractices. Envisioning the book as a site of struggle over new forms and systems ofcommunication within academia, the dissertation argues for alternative ways ofthinking of and performing the monograph in an experimental manner. By making useof digital platforms, tools and media to share, remix and update the research as itevolves, the aim is to develop a digital, open and collaborative research practice. Thiswill offer a practical critique of the dominant structures, politics and practices ofproducing and distributing research results. This article thus argues for theempowering potential of critically analysing and actively engaging with the dominantnorms underlying communication in the Humanities as well as with the structures thatdetermine academic literacy and the established and accepted practices herein. Byarguing for a potential new future for the book within scholarly communication as anemergent and evolving form, based on accessibility, sharing, process and change, thisarticle makes a case for new ways of engaging a critical praxis that is morespeculatory, open-ended and experimental.