The G+C Blog has just published an issue on Distant Reading and Discourse Analysis. We wanted to know if a digital 'archaeology of knowledge' is possible and started our inquiry with a workshop in Vienna in November 2015. Selected speakers developed their presentations into substantial papers that appeared on the G+C Blog and are now published in the form of an edited volume:

• The literature scholars Frank Fischer and Peer Trilcke situate Franco Moretti's "distant reading" in the field of Digital Humanities.
• Maurice Erb uses his expertise in both Foucault's philosophy and software development to explore the (im-)possibility of a computer-based discourse analysis.
• Patrick Kilian's imaginative piece compares the application of tree concepts in Moretti's and Foucault's works.
• The collection is completed with an extensive interview with Franco Moretti, conducted by Ruben Hackler and Guido Kirsten in Zurich this March.

This special issue Distant Reading and Discourse Analysis is part of the G+C Blog's ongoing effort to update Foucault's thought. In this case, we have confronted his archaeological approach with influential practices in Digital Humanities. The issue's introduction summarizes the main findings, discusses the similarities and differences in Foucault's and Moretti's methodology, and comes to a rather critical conclusion regarding the feasibility of an algorithmic 'archaeology of knowledge.'