The Plot of the Plot: Graphs and Visualizations

Data visualizations, particularly in the form of word maps and plotted graphs, have become a hallmark of the so-called “digital humanities.” It is important for creators and readers of these depictions to remember that they are not “data” but readings, interpretations of data mediated by programmed algorithms and hermeneutic desires. More important for periodical studies than plots of nodes and edges is the immense graph of the so-called “Semantic Web,” whose network of machine-actionable assertions could enable researchers to combine statements about magazines into rich interpretive maps.