Corpora and Digital Humanities

This chapter discusses the relationship that has developed over the years between two distinct fields of study—an epistemological approach to research in the humanities and a more methodological approach in linguistic research. This relationship has made possible the analysis of multiple aspects of language use from a literary, cultural, sociological, and historical perspective. In other words, the following pages will briefly explore how Digital Humanities and Corpus Linguistics have been combined in an interdisciplinary relationship contributing to advancing research in the field. This dialogue between the two has enabled scholars to leverage the systematic methods of linguistic analysis alongside the broader contextual perspectives of the humanities, leading to a more comprehensive and advanced understanding of language and its role in various cultural, social, and historical dimensions. By combining these complementary approaches, researchers have been able to uncover new insights and patterns in language data, furthering our knowledge and understanding in this dynamic and evolving field of study. The growth of Digital Humanities has been driven by an increasing interest in leveraging digital tools and technologies to enhance traditional humanities research. This means that the help of computational tools coming from Corpus Linguistics was inevitable and has become essential in the study of language and its different sociocultural implications. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide an overview of the key aspects that characterize the intersection of these two fields, shedding light on the unique contributions and potential future developments (but also pitfalls) in the interaction between Digital Humanities and Corpus Linguistics.