Categorial Relations in (Re)constructing Topoi and in (Re)modeling Topology as a Methodology: Vertical, horizontal, heuristic and epistemological interdependencies

The article reflects on the process of category development and category application that was relevant for the analysis of topoi in a specific corpus of travelogues. In this process, the investigation of the corpus and the (re)modeling of topology as a methodology were closely intertwined. This includes the interconnected modeling of the category topos and the (re)construction of concrete topos concepts. The paper proposes a methodological framework that represents categorial relations understood as relations between different types of categories, different concepts as instantiations of the same category as well as relations between categories and different heuristic levels. In addition to the definition and spatial representation of these relations, the iterative dimension of research processes in the digital humanities is discussed with regard to categorial interdependencies. Against the background of this (meta)model and the discussion of concrete examples from the study of travelogues, perspectives on possible follow-up differentiations and conceivable future work are touched upon.