(Ph. D. candidate, Universidad de Alcalá, Spain, & Università degli Studi di Genova, Italy;
Researcher Fellow, Centro Europeo para la Difusión de las Ciencias Sociales, Alcalà de Henares, Spain)
Spying through digital eyes: a TEI markup proposal to analyse secret information in the Habsburg-Osmanli Mediterranean context (16th century)
December 10, 2020 – 3:30-5:00 pm (GMT) – on Zoom
The historiography of spying and intelligence-derived information in the early modern era has gained importance in recent years by virtue of our present concerns. In particular, espionage during the Ottoman-Spanish Wars has been studied, specifically in the Mediterranean theatre of operations, considered as a means to construe enemy intentions and foresee possible action. Casilla Pérez’s research proceeds along this path, by analysing news reports about the military activities of the Ottoman Fleet.
In this seminar, he will present the methodology used to analyse these documents, consisting of a TEI markup scheme to select and classify data as well as the application of different software to visualize it. Emphasis will be placed on the theoretical framework that has underpinned this methodology as well as on the chief issues involved in its deployment. Finally, he will suggest further inquiries that can be carried out following on from it.
Suggested reading:
Burnard Lou, Fiormonte Domenico, Usher Jonathan (ed.), 2001, «On the Hermeneutic Implications of Text Encoding» New Media and the Humanities: Research and Applications, Oxford, Humanities Computing Unit, pp. 39-45 (https://www.academia.edu/292930/New_Media_and_the_Humanities_Research_and_Applications)
Grupo Trasegantes. «‘Avisos de Levante’: un proyecto digital de Ingeniería Histórica.» Tiempos Modernos 30 (enero de 2015) (http://www.tiemposmodernos.org/tm3/index.php/tm/article/view/439)
Álvaro Casillas Pérez is a last year PhD student in the Departamento de Historia y Filosofía de la Universidad de Alcalá and in the Dipartimento di Antichità, Filosofia, Storia in the Università degli Studi di Genova. His PhD research deals with the Ottoman navy analysed through the information provided by the spies and agents of the Hispanic Monarchy in the Levant during the time of Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566). He is also a Research Fellow at the Centro Europeo para la Difusión de las Ciencias Sociales (CEDCS, www.archivodelafrontera.com). He is also intrested on the impact of new techologies and audiovisual language on investigation, education and diffusion of historical knowledge.
Below, the recording of the event: