Las humanidades digitales y la conexión con las raíces culturales a través de la iniciativa portuguesa Aldeias do Xisto

Abstract

To understand the digital humanities in depth, its applicability must be observed. An example of an initiative that brings together concepts from the digital humanities is the Village of Xisto, developed in Portugal to attract people to the forgotten villages of Portugal. These villages, which are characterized by a stone construction, lived a reality of low demographic density, despite their rich cultural features and an immeasurable tourist potential. This article relates the experience of the rural initiative Associacao Aldeias do Xisto, which has adopted digital hypermedia strategies to spread natural resources and regional endogenous potentials from its digital platform, transforming them into attractive tourist sites and bringing together not only tourists, but also Portuguese, to important cultural roots of Portugal. Therefore, an investigation has been developed that includes a case study composed of a structured interview of open responsesand a quantitative analysis of the platform. It was found that Aldeias do Xisto has supported a cultural and social encounter in the region, breaking the boundaries between the Portuguese past and present, towards a future with possiblepositive social, cultural and environmental impacts.