ANST - A&S Experience & Formats

Mjccmc01 at aol.com Mjccmc01 at aol.com
Tue Aug 5 12:49:35 PDT 1997


Siobhan here...

Yes, Galen, I did talk with you about your satire and your sonnets, which
were, respectively, hysterical and very well done.

Thanks for posting about that, because it called to mind another A&S subject
I wanted to bring up, but it had slipped out of my mind....

Good gentles, how should we handle SCA artistic endeavors that have much
merit, but no real period analogue?  The two examples spring to mind here.
 The first is  the SCA satire that Viscount Galen did based on C.S. Lewis's
"The Screwtape Letters," which was completely non-period, but was beautifully
done with some very valuable commentary on life in the SCA.   Of course, as
Galen and I discussed, doing a completely period satire would get you in some
serious trouble.  There was a reason they were usually anonymous. 

The other example (shameless plug) is some of  the work being done by my
apprentice, Don Aubrey.  He has written some excellent "alternate histories"
that have involved an immense amount of research that reflect a thorough
understanding of the geopolitics of the era, e.g., the storm didn't blow in
and the Spanish Armada won, the Catholic lords assist the Spaniards in
consolidating domestic power, England returned to Catholicism,  France's
paranoia peaks, etc., etc.....

Both efforts (and I'm sure there are several other instances) are artful in
the extreme and involve much thought and contemplation of either the period
or the Society, but they certainly aren't "period" by any sense of my
definition.  I believe this kind of creativity is extremely beneficial to us,
yet I am unsure how to go about recognizing it, other than by telling the
authors I think it's neat.

So, what think you?  Should we try to find a way to publicly acknowledge and
value this sort of endeavor?  If so, what would be appropriate?  (Should we
call in the militant wing of the laurelate to obliterate it in the interest
of authenticity?  If so, do they get to borrow weapons from the knights, or
do they have to make their own, using only period techniques/materials? <G>)

As always, looking forward to the response and hoping that Aquilanne is
pleased to have yet another A&S topic...

Siobhan




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