Encoding as Editing as Reading

Abstract

This chapter consider the idea of "thinking through making" in relation to some of its specific implementations in Shakespearean textual scholarship, namely editing and digital text encoding. In contrast to earlier generations of humanities computing, the luxuries of twenty-first-century computing afford us greater opportunities to slow down and explore the moments of critical understanding that may emerge through encoding processes, just as they have emerged in more traditional scholarly activities such as transcription and editing. This chapter considers digital text encoding as a crucial moment when we can understand our materials anew through the act of making digital representations of them. Based on the author's pedagogical practice, and specifically the use of Shakespeare texts to teach principles of text encoding and markup, this chapter discusses various exercises and examples that connect classroom experiences with digital humanities projects.