Pre-visualization

Abstract

This position paper argues that deep collaboration must be a part of any humanities visualization project and it investigates the nature and the place of such collaboration. I re-introduce the term "previsualization” to refer to the interdisciplinary, transmedial critical work that underlies the design and implementation of, as well as the critical reflection on, visualization. I argue for seeing previsualization more than just in its temporal sense of a “first step” of building visual systems, but as a necessary process of digital humanities modelling that contributes to critical linkages between visualization and the humanities research tradition. Finally, I discuss the tension inherent in visual systems between their specificity and generalizability and the need to remain critical as they grow.