Reading Like Alice: Tricks of Perspective in Reading and Visualization

In the context of the complex intersection of technological changes, textual remediations, and changing modes of reading (highlighted by PMLA's recent two-part special issue on "Cultures of Reading"), this article argues for a more generous approach to reading that refuses to “sidestep” critical theory and its traditions of critical hermeneutics. Drawing from our work with humanistic visualization design and literary interpretation of science-fictional practices in Victorian periodicals, we propose an “Alice-in-Wonderland” approach to reading literary texts and collections. The emphasis is on harnessing the affordances and limitations of technological changes, textual remediations, and different modes of reading to reconnect us to the rich strangeness of our current moment.