Data Cornucopia? The mirage of abundance in the historical discipline

Abstract

This article challenges the notion of a data cornucopia as a symbol of abundance and accessibility in contemporary historiography. Through a theoretical review, it argues that the digital environment represents a mirage of abundance, shaped by algorithmic mediation, epistemic asymmetries, and the loss of interpretive depth. It calls for slowness, selection, and critique as essential practices of historical inquiry against the technoutopian illusion of total archives.