Re: [Mid] SCA philosophy (was LOTR)

> Does the SCA as a group recreate history? Really? When? Where? What
> event?

We re-create (or attempt to) the spirit and flavor of a society based on the
precondition that it consists of "personas" who *might* have existed In
(according to the Corpora) "pre-seventeenth century" times. No mention is
made of place except to say that the SCA "predominately" uses western
europe, and the "high middle ages".
    The basic requirement for participation in the SCA is "An Attempt at
pre-17th century Garb".
    In so far as we're able, I think that we do a pretty good job of
creating our mythical society that spans a whole world, and over a thousand
years of time. Asking us to try and be perfectly authentic within that
scope is asking for trouble, IMHO, because the scope's just too broad for
that. (Although, I personally use the assumption that My 8th century Irish
self has moved in space (from ireland to Byzantium) rather than time.. The
byzantine empire was acrossroads of many cultures, so there's plenty of room
for me to assume that everything strange is from "the east", including coke
cans, styrofoam coolers, and sneakers worn with elizabethan. :) In this
way, I insulate myself from those "medieval moment" shattering influences,
and at the same time, I don't have to criticize anyone for *their* level of
authenticity.. I'm too busy paying attention to my own. :)

    I think that most of the "authenticity friction" that occurrs in the SCA
comes from the lack of understanding between the terms "re-creation" (as in,
from scratch, but keeping the flavor intact) and "reenactment" (as in
duplicating a particular time and place). I seem to meet a lot of people
who get annoyed (or downright angry) when the SCA fails to meet their
standards of what it "ought" to be. They talk about changing it, making it
more like what *they* want, because it's the closest thing they can find to
what *they* want to do; it's the only raw material that they have to work
with.
    While I thnk we should try to advance scholarship, honor those who pay
particular attention to detail, and enjoy their works, I think that worrying
about what the SCA *isn't* takes time away from enjoying what it *is*- A
social club for folks who have a common interest in history, and want to
bring the period romances (Le Mort D'Arthur, The Song of Roland, Beowolf,
Etc.) that jazzed us to life in some way.. to *live* some of the magic that
first sparked that sense of wonder when we read the hopeful, beautiful, and
sometimes terrible tales that told the people of our period how heroes are
made.

    For a long time now, I've been using the romances for the inspiration
(why) and the history for the execution (how). And I've been enjoying the
hell out of the company for the most part! :) But I get a little down
whenever someone starts telling me everything that's wrong with the SCA,
because it usually means that they're annoyed that it never lived up to a
promise that it's never made.
    I've also stopped trying to get these people to mellow out and enjoy
what's around them too... I find that we don't really speak the same
language. When I try to explain that the SCA is more about what happens in
your head and your heart than what happens in the event hall, I get a "Dog
being shown a card trick" look and a few phrases about why I'm "Wrong" that
tell me that my point hasn't made it into the argument. After a while, that
sort of thing eats into your fun, so I stopped worrying about it, and avoid
"SCA state of the union" discussions as a rule.
    After all, I don't mind playing next to someone else's fantasy since I'm
in the middle of my own! :)

YIS,
Breac MacFinnien
"Fiat Iustitia Ruat Caelum"
><///////;> ><///////;> ><///////;> ><///////;< ~

From: "Christopher Hale" <breac@atrweb.net>
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ to unsubscribe, send a message to
`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~` majordomo@midrealm.org with
. | | | | | | | | 'unsubscribe sca-middle' as its body.
Received on Tue Jan 1 06:09:00 2002