Your Name and Title
Israa Abbas - The Impact of Digital Humanities in Cataloging Sudanese Digital Poets
Library, School, or Organization Name
Ronald Williams Library; Northeastern Illinois University - McNair Scholar
Co-Presenter Name(s): N/A
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Chicago, IL
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Students, library staff, Archivists, Librarians
Short Session Description (one line):
Developing a digital Sudanese Poetics Archives through cataloging underrepresented Sudanese poets and digitalizing Sudanese poetry.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
Many Sudanese citizens have left Sudan because dictatorship oppression curtailed their freedom of speech. Nevertheless, the Sudanese community expresses their radical free speech using poetry. This historically significant mode became an important element of the 2019 revolution. Scholars argue that lyric poetry is a form of freedom, an escape for writers, and a form of engagement with social/political issues. For that reason investigators point to how the Sudanese community circumvents the issue of lack of freedom of speech with poetry. Unfortunately, Sudanese literature is not well represented in libraries located in America compared to Eurocentric poetry. At the same time scholars suggest that the merge of humanities and technology into digital humanities help us understand digital culture.Through this discipline we see how online activists have developed software that uses concrete and haiku poetry to reconfigureate and improve free speech.This research identifies the importance of the expansion of awareness of Sudanese poetry in a digital form and how this elevates awareness of freedom of speech needed in Sudan. I will use a qualitative analysis to catalog Sudanese poets and their work through a collaboratively developed website creating a Sudanese Poetics Archives.This type of cataloging is crucial to diversify the libraries in America and to bring awareness to Sudanese literature and social issues. By creating this archive and these collaborations, I hope to continue to raise awareness about suppression of freedom of speech in Sudan and to encourage engagement with other poets with Sudanese poetry, both in Sudan and abroad.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: iapoetry.com
Replies