ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates software prototyping and prototypes as multimodal knowledge objects in digital humanities laboratories. Based on Karin Knorr Cetina’s work, this chapter envisions what theoretical reasoning might be present in digital humanities laboratories. In doing so, it proposes a hypothetical framework called “proto-theory”, which aligns relationality, indexicality, and temporality as guiding principles for studying software prototypes. By using a selection of software prototypes from digital literary studies, practical insights are provided and discussed. Aiming to expand our critical vocabulary to talk about knowledge objects, this chapter reflects on how to study the entanglements of prototyping and theorising in digital humanities scholarship.
