Abstract
This article presents a pedagogical approach for introducing literature students to digital manuscripts and editorial processes through hands-on engagement with archival materials. The teaching activity centers on May Alcott Nieriker's essay "London Bridges," using four different versions of the text—two handwritten manuscripts, one nineteenth-century periodical publication, and one contemporary republication—to illuminate how editorial decisions shape literary canons and student learning. The four-part assignment integrates literary analysis, manuscript transcription, variant identification, and editorial decision-making to help students understand the material conditions that determine which texts survive and become part of academic curricula. Through this assignment, students gain critical insights into the invisible labor of textual production and the historical exclusion of marginalized voices from literary canons. The activity demonstrates how feminist pedagogical approaches can use digital recovery work to help students recognize their role as active shapers of literary history rather than passive consumers of predetermined canons. The article provides detailed implementation guidance, assessment strategies, and reflection on how such activities can revitalize traditional survey courses by encouraging students to question what has been missing from their literary education and to understand the political dimensions of canon formation.
Recommended Citation
Daly-Galeano, Marlowe
(2026)
"How Questions of Editing Shape our Learning: Introducing Students to Digital Manuscripts,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 6:
Iss.
5, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol6/iss5/4
Included in
American Literature Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Women's Studies Commons