Using the example of manifestos in literature and arts, this article examines the epistemological consequences of the digitisation of documentary heritage on research in the humanities. Through a comparison between paperanthologies of manifestos and the Manart database, – regarding their internal organisation, the practices they give rise to and the form of materiality they present – the article seeks to determine the underlying logic of their legitimacy and toevaluate their implications on the modalities of knowledge construction. This approach leads to the question of whether the emergence of a new digital episteme entails not only a structural redefinition of documentary archives, but also aredefinition of the disciplinary frameworks of the humanities.