Re-pairing: Difference between revisions

From creative crowd wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "In her essay [https://calibre.constantvzw.org/read/196/pdf "A Reparative Approach to Publishing"], Mia Melvær describes the shifting aspect of the written word, which once considered stable, is now within the age of digital publishing, editable and contested. Citing the example of the Wikipedia page that defines Femicide/Feminicide as one in "constant flux" between the edits of those who wish the page to represent the gendered nature of murders of women, and those who d...")
 
No edit summary
 
(2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
In her essay [https://calibre.constantvzw.org/read/196/pdf "A Reparative Approach to Publishing"], Mia Melvær describes the shifting aspect of the written word, which once considered stable, is now within the age of digital publishing, editable and contested. Citing the example of the Wikipedia page that defines Femicide/Feminicide as one in "constant flux" between the edits of those who wish the page to represent the gendered nature of murders of women, and those who do not wish for it to exist at all, Melvær reminds us that the wiki page is a heavily contested space of writing, rewriting and redirecting, but also one that leaves traces. The software that powers Wikipedia, MediaWiki, keeps logs of revisions made to pages. The revisions are less a garden of forking paths than a heavily pruned branch, cut back and extended, over time.
In [https://calibre.constantvzw.org/read/196/pdf "A Reparative Approach to Publishing"], Mia Melvær reminds us that digital publishing (especially on Wikipedia) is an editable and heavily contested space of writing, rewriting and redirecting, but also one that leaves traces.
 
Working with the concept that of repair introduces questions into how something should function to begin with, or what its actual value is. Repair, even when it is not performed successfully, brings one into a space of learning, fostering a closer relation with the material world.
 
When something "Just Works", it appears as seamless, its affect is invisible. When digital technologies don't work, they become visible.
 
What is re-paired when repair happens? How does repair (in the form of editing), again bring about a closer relation to the materiality of an object and our subjectivity towards it?
 
[[Category: Wiki-publishing]]

Latest revision as of 19:12, 26 May 2025

In "A Reparative Approach to Publishing", Mia Melvær reminds us that digital publishing (especially on Wikipedia) is an editable and heavily contested space of writing, rewriting and redirecting, but also one that leaves traces.

Working with the concept that of repair introduces questions into how something should function to begin with, or what its actual value is. Repair, even when it is not performed successfully, brings one into a space of learning, fostering a closer relation with the material world.

When something "Just Works", it appears as seamless, its affect is invisible. When digital technologies don't work, they become visible.

What is re-paired when repair happens? How does repair (in the form of editing), again bring about a closer relation to the materiality of an object and our subjectivity towards it?