ANST - Question for Laurels and Iris of Merit holders

Dennis and/or Dory Grace amazing at mail.utexas.edu
Wed Sep 10 13:12:11 PDT 1997


Hi all, Aquilanne here.

A bunch of people wrote:
>> > I think you need to add "Poetry" (written and performance) to this list,
>> > as well as Herbalism.
>> 
>> Herbalism I think should be one of the following:
>> 
>> > > 	X. Camping and Homesteading: 1. Shelters 2. SCA Cover-ups
>> > > (includes non-camping cover-ups) 3. Gardcening (limited to period
>> > > plants) 4. Animal Husbandry (limited to period breeds)
>> > > 	XIV. Alchemy: 1. Cooked 2. Non-cooked
>> > > 	XX. Brewing: 1. Lager 2. Ale 3. Wines 4. Sparkling Wines 5. Mead
>> > > 6. Liqueurs
>> 
>
>Pug, I must disagree.  Herbalism is a pretty vast field, actually.  It can
>and often does incorporate growing herbs, finding-identifying them in the
>wild, harvesting and drying, the various uses they can be put to
>(medicinal, cosmetic, culinary, theraputic) and the various forms they can
>take (ointments, teas, oils, poultices, etc.)
>
>I say it deserves its own category.  Any other herbalists out there agree?
>
>> Poetry falls under:
>> 
>> > > 	XVII. Performing Arts: 1. Instrumental music 2. Vocal music 3.
>> > > Readings 4. Monologues 5. Plays 6. Skits 7. Pantomime 8. Court Dance
>> > > 9. Country Dance 10 Ethnic Dance 11. Other Performances
>> > > 	XVIII. Writings; Fiction: 1. Tales 2. Plays 3. Poetry
>
>OK, I missed poetry in the written part -- t
>ho why does it necessarily
>classify as fiction?  Much poetry is history.  I've written a few myself
>chronicling actual events (tho their historic value may be debated.)
>
>Also, where do you stick poetry under Performance?  Readings?  Uh uh.  My
>experience is that "read" poetry is generally inferior to memorized,
>recited and performed poetry, as any who have seen a really good performer
>will attest.

And here we introduce the beauty of interpretation. ;->

First off, yes, herbalism is a vast field (pun?). Should it have it's own
category? Only if that category is broken up into appropriate
sub-categories. Using the above sets of categories/subcategories, however,
herbal poultices would be entered under 'Alchemy, cooked' or 'Alchemy,
noncooked', whichever applied. Research on herbalism would go either under
'Writings, research papers', or under 'Research projects' if you have a
whole set-up to display. Herbal vinegars would go under 'vinegars.' Work
done regarding herbs used for their insect-repellent properties could be
research projects or papers. Herbalism could have its own separate category
if you like, but it would need to duplicate other subcategories in order to
appropriately recognize the different applications of herbalism.

As to poetry having the potential of being fiction or non-fiction, made-up
or history, we could get into a reeeaaallly long discussion that a few
modern day scholars occassionally deal with, that of history as fiction. In
this case, the category headings are just a simple extension of this. Let's
say someone writes an epic poem about a crown tourney in a period style. Is
this fiction or non-fiction? Well, since it's not a documentary or an
academic approach to recording facts--it is, after all, an *epic* poem--its
purpose is to glorify the event and its combatants, not give us a report.
"His mighty thews bulged like mountains and his sword strike echoed off
Mount Wayupthere as his worthy opponent thundered to the ground, never to
rise again." "Sir X delivered a killing blow and Sir Y accepted it."
Poetry--reportage. Like someone else said: "Much poetry is history.  I've
written a few myself chronicling actual events (tho their historic value
may be debated.)" Make sense?

As to "read" poetry, "readings" refers merely to verbal delivery; it
doesn't necessarily mean that the reader is actually reading off a written
page. It's just terminology.

Aquilanne
Dory Grace--The Inkwell
denouncer of Tytyvylus & warrior crone
amazing at mail.utexas.edu
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