Critical Digital Humanities: Theoretical Perspectives, Case Studies, and Indexing Practices

Abstract

This article reflects on Critical Digital Humanities as a theoretical and methodological orientation aimed at interrogating the relationship between digital technologies, knowledge production, and structures of power. Drawing on critical theory, Critical Race Theory, feminist studies, and postcolonial studies, it reconstructs the emergence of a critical perspective within Digital Humanities, highlighting the role of authors, movements, and debates such as Debates in the Digital Humanities, #transformDH, decolonial approaches, and Feminist Digital Humanities. The article also examines recent literature on critical digital humanities, showing the fragmentation of the keywords used and the resulting difficulties in retrieving relevant resources. Within this framework, the study focuses on the journal Umanistica Digitale, with particular attention to the presence and indexing of DEI-related topics. The analysis reveals limited terminological consistency, weak visibility of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the need for shared guidelines for the use of keywords. Finally, the article argues for the importance of more conscious, inclusive, and standardized indexing practices, capable of improving discoverability and making marginalized perspectives, communities, and forms of knowledge more visible.