Re-pairing: Difference between revisions

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(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...")
 
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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 of "repair" introduces questions into how something should function. A moment of repair is also a moment to question how something works, or who it works for.
 
When something "Just Works", it appears as seamless, its affect is invisible. When digital technologies don't work, they become visible.
 
When something "doesn't work", it is time to repair it. Does repair then bring about a closer relation to the materiality of an object and then, a new relationship with it? What is re-paired when repair happens?
 
[[Category: Wiki-publishing]]

Latest revision as of 21:53, 2 June 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 of "repair" introduces questions into how something should function. A moment of repair is also a moment to question how something works, or who it works for.

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

When something "doesn't work", it is time to repair it. Does repair then bring about a closer relation to the materiality of an object and then, a new relationship with it? What is re-paired when repair happens?