As Foucault pointed out, there is a reciprocal relationship between knowledge and power. For him, the statement that knowledge is power is inaccurate. Rather, knowledge can reinforce power, and power can reinforce knowledge in return. Wherever there is knowledge, power is present. Wherever power is perceived, knowledge follows. Human beings’ nature of will to power makes the epistemological sphere a battlefield for a long time.
There are two levels of confrontations in the epistemological sphere. The first level is about possession, and the second level is about representation. Possession concerns what kinds of/whose knowledge is legitimate. In the past, knowledge possessed by priests and religious leaders was considered legitimate and perceived correct. After the Age of Enlightenment, scientific knowledge rose to the dominant status and drove out other kinds of knowledge such as folklore and literature.
Representation concerns which mode is the legitimate bearer or representation of knowledge. The text-based mode has dominated scholarship for such as a long time that other channels such as visual (e.g., pictures) and aural (e.g., oral account) means are dismissed as informal and amateur in academia.
Digital humanities, as an alternative and challenge to the transitional knowledge and expression, is intended to restructure the power structure to include the voices that were previously exiled to participate in the legitimate creation. From this perspective, digital humanities can be looked upon as a multicultural issue.